httpd service is dead

[Simon Tierney <simon conditional-fee co uk>]

Sorry if this is basic.

Since I started using Fedora 10 I can't login as root.

Even though the system recognizes the root password when it requires it 
for certain administrative tasks it refuses to let me login as root.

When I try to edit httpd.conf I get the message "could not save file..." 
it doesn't even prompt me for the root password.

My httpd service is dead and I can't resurrect it, what should I do?