htaccess issues since update

Since upgrading I have a 500 server error. This seems to be caused bt the htaccess files. I cannot access the site front end or back end when the files are in place. When I rename them (ie they are not used) I can access the front page and all the back end. However the menu on the front page does not link to any of the other pages. Also when I try and view page from the “Edit Page” in the back end, I get a Page not found message. This was not an issue before the upgrade.

The.htaccess in the root folder looks like this

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
</IfModule>
AddType video/x-flv .flv# BEGIN AskApache sid1018
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /wpaldous/.*/wp-comments-post\.php.*\ HTTP/ [NC]
RewriteRule .* – [F,NS,L]
# END AskApache sid1018
# BEGIN AskApache sid1025
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/wpaldous/(wp-login.php|wp-admin/|wp-content/plugins/|wp-includes/).* [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^$
RewriteRule .* – [F,NS,L]
# END AskApache sid1025
# BEGIN AskApache sid1026
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Content-Disposition} \.php [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Content-Type} image/.+ [NC]
RewriteRule .* – [F,NS,L]
# END AskApache sid1026
# BEGIN AskApache sid1029
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(opera|mozilla|firefox|msie|safari).*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^-?$
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /.+/trackback/?\ HTTP/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} =POST
RewriteRule .* – [F,NS,L]
# END AskApache sid1029

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

The .htaccess in the wordpress folder (in this instance wpaldous) looks like this

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
</IfModule>

# BEGIN WordPress

# END WordPress