Linux problem

I was trying to install linux on my machine it already has XP installed but there is still some unpartioned space.But when I set my BIOS to only read the CD drice on boot startup or something like that it just reads the CD for a while and then just starts up XP. How do i get it to read the iso?

I downloaded thios version http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/4/i386/iso/ Did i get the right one or should I download it at one of these two places?
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/4/x86_64/iso/
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/4/ppc/iso/

 

If you have downloaded an .iso file you need to use Nero (or Roxio) to burn it to a CD which will make it bootable. Your bootup sequence will then recognise it and boot to it. Look at the HELP file for whichever burner version you have. It's very easy but too detailed to follow up here.

 

Did you use a program that is designed to burn the contents of an .iso file to a disc or did you just save the file itself onto a disc. CD Burner XP http://www.majorgeeks.com/CDBurnerXP_d4242.html is a freeware application that will burn that .iso file (which is a virtual image of the disc) to a CD so that you can get it installed and working

 

If you are using a linux live cd then you would need to burn iso image to a disc like said by others. Then insert the cd before computer starts up and linux should start instead of windows if you selected boot from cd on startup which you did.
Link to linux live I use www.slax.linux-live.org