First Steps
1)Check that IDE Cable is securely attached to your IDE Connector as well as Disk
2)Check and test your memory
3)Remove / Disable Crap like sound cards /TV Tuners etc --> Only enable Bare essentials
4) Make Sure Bare essentials ARE ALL WORKING Correctly{ Vid Card / Mem / CPU / Mobo / CDROM/DVD}
4)Check that nothing is overheating etc / Make Sure all fans are spinning
5)Try and boot with BIOS Fail Safe Defaults
6)If you have something like Knoppix Etc , try and boot with it , and make sure that the systems can come online
7)Check and make sure the distribution cd is not faulty , as well making sure CD /DVD drive is functioning correctly
8)Is the disk formatted / partitioned correctly ?