I finally decided to bite the bullet and ditch Windoze. I researched lots of things, and decided to go with LinuxMint 17.1 with KDE Desktop. I downloaded the ISO and burned it to a disk, then booted with that disk in the proper drive.

It looked at the disk, I selected run LM from the menu, it loaded the LM logo with gear (KDE), and ...

Nothing.

I waited 20 minutes. Still nothing.

So now what?

My first reaction is to download Slackware with KDE... but I am much more familiar with Debian architecture...

Note that I previously successfully loaded LM 17 LXDE on a netbook without a hiccup.

The machine I am installing on is:
Dell Inspiron 518 00
2.40 GHz Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
4 Gb RAM 266MHz bus speed
Hitachi 500 Gb HD
Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-72008
ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO
SB Audigy

I am using an Emerson 32" LCD TV as my monitor (via monitor cable, not HDMI). This monitor choice DID prevent me from using Manjaro, but I currently have Win7 dual booting with Mageia 5 (can't get all the sound issues solved in Mageia).

First thing that comes to my mind - did you check the MD5 checksum for the ISO first? Maybe the burn wasn't good perhaps? Check the user guides (available online), or read the following if required

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1987

I'm guessing that video.
Boot the liveCD, and try the "compatibility mode" option - see if that works. It'll have a bunch of messages scrolling by - if it stops, take a photo, and post that. If it gets all the way to a desktop, tell us. Have aa play, and make sure it's working ok.
Next boot again, and before it times out, hit the "e" key (on "Run LM") to edit the boot options. Remove "quiet" and "splash" (leave the -- at the end) and hit F10 to boot it. It'll look like the other boot with all the messages. Same applies - when it stops take a photo.

you might have to disconnect the tv and boot & install from a normal (inbuilt?) vga monitor.

I tried it again this morning and it installed fine. I haven't had time to check things like sound, camera and printer, but I have faith that the LQ & LM communities can get me through. No idea why it didn't work yesterday. The only thing which changed was a near-success installing Slackware 13, which probably prepared the hard disk.

Updated: Everything runs fine, no issues. Wish it had better screen fonts but hey, it's not Windoze.