pro5boy

i am a lifelong pc user - this is my first mac and it came with some problems!

i was given a secondhand imac g3 color:snow model #m5521 and in the process of deleting some of his files, the previous owner deleted something crucial. now when i turn it on there is a grey screen and a small folder that is broken down the middle (the way broken hearts are usually drawn). i was told i needed a restore disk... which the previous owner could not find. so i bought this one off of ebay: iMac Software Install / Restore OS 9.0.4 + Hdwr Test. i put it in, held down c, and nothing happened. i read in another post to hold down p, r, apple, and option. no results with this either. could somebody who knows about this stuff please help me and let me know what my options are. do i need to take this in to the apple store and if so, how much will this cost? i'd really rather fix it myself. thanks in advance.

sinclair_tm

well, the problem is that your imac doesn't support 9.0.4, as the os is too old, which is why that cd didn't work. you need at least os 9.1, but os x 10.2 would be best. with a newer os, it should start up.