Unable to boot any OS from CD

[Husse]

which allowed me to do a low level HDD format.

Whatever you did was not a low level HDD format - that's only done at the factory and if for some stupid reason it was possible to do it your disk is now destroyed for ever
But you should be able to boot a live CD even without a hard disk in the computer....
With the Mint CD did you try Compatibility mode - press any key when it counts down....