Upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 from 9.04 via online update, now my screen freezes when screen saver comes on

Anyone else having this issue? Ive googled it and seen its a known bug in the new 10.10 maverick meerkat update. some background, i was on ubuntu 9.04. havnt updated as i was afraid id have to go searching for my wireless drivers. I got the 10.10 update disc in the mail from ubuntu but it seems they give you no option but to reformat HD to install since all the partitions dont give a root.

So i just decided to upgrade one at a time through the update manager. I went fro 9.04 to 9.10 to 10.04 to 10.10 and now when my screen saver comes on, after about 2-3 minutes the screen locks up and i cannot do anything. I cannot access the terminal or reset the grub by control + alt + backspace.

Anyone else with this issue get it resolved? Id hate to have to find somewhere to backup 120 gbs just to reformat the HD and install 10.10 on a fresh install. There has to be a way