Try ISO images without burn
For example get qemu from here:
http://dag.wieers.com/packages/qemu
. Take the rpm for your distro.
How to run qemu (see also man qemu):
qemu -m 256 -cdrom livecd.iso
qemu -m 256 -full-screen -cdrom livecd.iso
Escape full screen in qemu with ALT+CTRL+f
Or alternatively you can use
VMware Player
or
VMware Server