I can give you some easy tips for this.
- Does it run windows 7 or higher, if so it will work fine with most distros for basic stuff.
- Does it have a dedicated GPU, if so google the card to check if your chosen distro has easy support for it (almost any card can work, but some are painless).
- Does it power on and was made this millennia, if so it can work in some way with Linux.