anyone help???

heyy
total newbie my neighbour gave me an old imac no keyboard came with it and i have os x 10.3 (supported by machine) and it won't install... says i can hold in c or use startup disk i do nothing click the install mac os x button and it says to start installing click the restart button. nothinghappens boots back up into 9.2.2

If it's a supported Panther install disk for your iMac it should work. When you boot the machine with the Panther disk, you should select Disk Utility. You may have to erase the current operating system first. I'm not sure you can upgrade from 9.2.2 directly to Panther without doing a clean install.

If you don't mind chancing the loss of 9.2.2 you can try that. Select erase, then format the drive to HFS+, name it Macintosh HD and then install the operating system and applications that came with it.

Regards.

yeah haha sadly it's a downloaded copy of panther i just got the imac and only willing to buy a keyboard for it if i can get os x on it.... i can't find where to format and the startup disk utility thing doesn't work just keeps booting in 9.2.2

First up have you checked to see if the firmware needs updating under OS 9.2 prior to trying to load OS X? Firmware must be 4.1.9 and here is where you download it:-

iMac (Slot Loading): Install iMac Firmware 4.1.9 Before Mac OS X 10.2 or later

Downloaded OS are pirated. Do not try with that as it will not work and could do serious damage. You need the bootable CD/DVD version which is a black coloured full retail install disc and you can spend money and buy these at auction sites like eBay, or through sale and swap section of Mac Forums.