Problems booting up Linux cd's on dell or emachine computers.
 

Lately I have problems getting Linux cd's of any sort to boot up on computer by big manufacturers, like Dell or eMachine, I just want to know if there is anything that I should be aware of that I don't know of when booting linux on these types of computers? I'll revise this when I get back from my school to fix mistakes... thank you in advance.

Can you give a little more detail about the problems you're seeing? If the CD just doesn't boot, it could be something really basic like the BIOS boot sequence listing the CD below the hard drive, or that you didn't burn it as an ISO image. Overall, as long as your Linux CD is known to be good, they should boot without complaint.

The cd is being read but stops after about a minute and just moves onto booting windows. I got the BIOS sequence booted to cd first, and yes I have a good working cd image. Is there anything I should be aware of when it comes to Dell like pc's?

Best thing is to make sure the cd is bootable in another machine.

Then try 'f12' right after the keyboard lights flash after you turn it on, select cdrom (Dell specific)

Sounds more like you have a non-bootable cd or the cdrom is not functioning correctly

BTW, I have 3 Dells here, all boot cds fine, and myself and the wife are certified Dell techs. As I said, sounds more like a cd issue than anything. Try to boot the XP cd. If it boots, you have a bad Linux cd