System profiler gone?

The machine is a G4, 384meg, 10.3.9, from my local recycling center. Yep, it was tossed out with the trash. With a fix to the internal modem, an AirPort card, and a few extra USB ports I've got a fun platform for learning about the Apple world for well under $100.

However, there are a few 'challenges.' The current one is that the Apple system profiler seems not to be there. 'About this mac' shows 'More Info' in gray, if I look for it in applications -> utilities it isn't there, and if I try to go from the description in Help (open system profiler for me) I get "The item cannot be opened; it may be disabled or not installed."

So ... what are the possiblities? Is this a command that any administrative user should be able to access? If it's really gone, is there a way to get it?

I'm a Windows 'switcher' and I miss my system info! Although I must say it doesn't seem quite as necessary in the Apple world; most things seem to work pretty well WITHOUT digging into the system.

There's probably some files missing, perhaps accidentally or purposely deleted by the previous owner. You're going to need to get hold of a copy of 10.3.9 and probably reinstall. System disks are specific to the model so you would need those disks that are for your machine. You could also try to find a retail version of Panther (10.3.X) and use it instead. You really don't have enough memory to try to install Tiger. (10.4.X)