cannot boot from cd rom

[jmmouse4]

I cannot boot the live cd on the following machine: (it works on my XP machine)
I am new to Linux
Compaq deskpro 2000
166mhz
32 mb ram (more on the way)
win 95
I placed the cd in the machine saw the start up page so i know it loaded.
I removed the cd and rebooted the machine and got a c:/ prompt. I cant load any distro from the cd. i checked/reordered the bios and still cant boot from the cd.
i also cant boot up win 95.
Do i need a boot floppy? Like i said i am new and need the step by step.
Thanks!

[Harry Kuhman]

166mhz
32 mb ram (more on the way)

You likely will not want to hear this, but it's an awful mistake to spend anything to upgrade the RAM on that old system (or any other upgrade for that matter). So unless you are getting compatable memory free from a friend, you would be wise not to add any memory (even though you really can't run Knoppix in 32 megs).

As to booting, it sounds like the system can't boot a cd properly. Look into Smart Boot Manager, it can be run from floppy or installed to the hard disk (MBR) and should then let the system boot from CD.