Noob vs. Sony Vaio

I am as noob as noob can be. I'm trying to set-up our Sony Vaio Laptop for my 8 year old so he can have his own machine to do homework, play games, and learn to code. My intent is to clear out the windows OS and leave him with a Linux OS. I've attempted to install Zorin. If someone recommends something else I'm open.

Details:

- The machine is a Vaio VGN-NW130J with vista loaded. However, it has problems as I can't get past the logon with my windows vista account (it crashes when I enter the password).

- I'm trying to load Zorin 9 32-bit educational lite via DVD.

- I've accessed the BIOS and set it to read the "internal optical drive".

- I've had no luck getting it to boot to the Zorin OS via the DVD.

I tried to find various solutions on the net for several hours. I've picked up pieces of info that Vaio doesn't work with Linux machines but I've found youtube videos of people pulling it off. I'm hoping someone can help me step through this. Thanks in advance for any assistance.