will Linux run on my laptop? what's the best distro for my case.

I tried to install fedora from a live USB and was unable to get it to boot from bios on my laptop. Going to try to install it on a CD and give it another try. Anyone know if it is possible? I have a Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437. i tried goggling it and didn't see anything for my model but did find a few similar laptops. I might have to use Ubuntu. I am trying to learn Linux on my laptop and the same time be able to research how to do stuff on my desktop PC.

http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/toshiba.html

Of course it is possible to install it from a CD.
If you are a newcomer to linux, I suggest starting with Linux Mint, which is a derivative of Ubuntu, which in its turn is Debian based.

So, basically, if you learn to use Mint, you learn to use Ubuntu and Debian.

Did you change the boot priority to look for usb boot first? A handy tool for older computers that don't support usb boot is plop..

http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html
https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator/

I set it to USB memory but it didn't take going to try both your recommendations thx guys

I think it needs a specific way to write the image on usb in order to boot properly .

Image Writer for Windows

Image Writer is the only native Windows image writer (except Cygwin) that writes the whole image without any changes (like dd) - other writers unpack the image and then copy all the files to a FAT filesystem.
Download win32 disk imager from http://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer. Run the program. Select the arch image-file and usb stick. The Win32 Disk Imager's file browser assumes image files end with .img, so if the image-file you have selected ends with .iso, you will have to type its name in manually; this difference in suffixes is simply cosmetic however, the image will be written fine regardless. Click on the write button. Now you should be able to boot from the usb stick and install Arch Linux from it.

Got it from archlinux wiki , it will work for fedora as well

sure if u have cd it w'll not be done

Go here to read:
http://computechtips.com/create-usb-linux-installer

and here to download:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

I would go for ubuntu the latest on any pc. ANyways the latest ubuntu doesn't use gnome so I installed it manually. If you like KDE you could try kubuntu which has it's own fans.
An alternative is to use Mint of course, but from my point it's a bit different as an experience.