How to install Linux from Windows?

I have an old server which right now is running Windows 2000 Server and I want to install Linux on it. Unfortunately, I cannot boot from a CD as the BIOS was on a different partition (this is an old Compaq machine), and there is no way for me to get into that now. Also, I don’t have any floppies lying around that I can use. Which means I was stuck. But, I came across an article by Marc Herbert which details how to install Linux for someone exactly in my situation - without any CD, floppy or USB-Key .

My question now is, has anyone tried this? I have not yet, might do it tonight. And Two, which distro to use? Most of them are listed, Centos is missing (Karan you reading this?). Traditionally when I have played with this on a Virtual Machine it has been the Suse Linux or Redhat, and I personally prefer Suse, however I have not used them enough to know which one is better?

So, what do you recommend and importantly why?