Yes, I guess I could try that but I think I'd probably still have the same problem.

I'm probably not as technical as the rest of the members -- but here's what I think might be happening -- I just have no clue how to deal with it.

I think that when I change the boot order and force it to boot from DVD, it does recognize that but then it might have something to do with the boot.ini file... it looks at what OS it should load, sees only Windows in the boot.ini, tries to load that, can't load it from DVD, so falls back to the HD... and Windows loads.

I could be wrong but I think ... at least on Win XP or maybe it's a Dell thing ... there's more steps to getting my laptop to boot from DVD when the DVD has an different OS from what's loaded on the HD. Also, I have a feeling that this would be the same issue whether I booted from DVD or USB flash drive.