<p>Some questions that occur to me:</p> <ul> <li>Did you have a Linux install on the machine previously? (ie has it worked in the past)</li> <li>Can you run a live distro successfully on the machine?</li> <li>Has the bootloader (grub? or lilo?) installed correctly?</li> </ul> <p>EDIT (more ideas)</p> <ul> <li>Is this a laptop? If so what model number (there may be info about it around on t'internet).</li> <li>Are you you dual booting? </li> <li>Does the laptop come with some sort of secure bootloader pre-installed by the manufacturer?</li> </ul>