Here is what happens.
I can boot off of a disk, but once it tries to start the install system, it ceases to see the dvd drive as being on a generic controller. So windows setup boots up enough so I can press F6(I think thats it) to load a 3rd party driver from the disk, at which point it works. Otherwise I get a bsod during setup. With linux, it boots until it says "starting kernel", at which point it freezes.