Old PIII computer will not boot from CD or DVD

[Ricochet]

I have not been able to install fedora on my Compaq PIII which has XP on currently. It will not boot from CD or DVD and will not copy iso images to the hard drive from the DVD. I've tried to make a floppy for installation but the file is too large. Do they make larger capacity floppies now? I haven't used them in 5 years and had to dig them out of a box. Apparently the older version BIOS will not allow booting from CD/DVD. I've tried 4 different CD/DVD distros, so I am sure it isn't a defective media problem. I'm out of ideas and would appreciate any help. 
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