Been missing System Preferences for months and I really need a fix

System preferences disappeared from my Mac G4 a few months ago, and nothing that's been recommended on other forums has helped ..
I've reinstalled the 10.5.8 combo updater, repaired permissions, and looked for my install CDs for hours with no luck. I also tried extracting system preferences from the combo updater pkg using Pacifist, but the file wasn't even there.

I'm thinking all that's left to do is ask for somebody to send me the system preferences file for Leopard .. So .. Could somebody please send me the file?
or recommend something else that might work for me? ;D

Thanks

New System Preferences issue

I managed to get ahold of a system preferences app from somebody, but now I have the issue of actually making it work on my Mac.
When I click the icon, it jumps up and down for a bit, I get the blue light under it, but then it stops and the blue light goes away, and I get the "ignore" or "relaunch" notification.

I'm currently repairing permissions, so hopefully that will work, but does anybody else have any suggestions?
If I got it from somebody using a different version will it affect me, or is System Preferences the same file on every version of Mac?

The System Preferences application must be the same as originally came with your version of OS X. For example: If you're using Leopard, you can not install the System Preferences app from Snow Leopard as it will not run.

We can't, it's against the EULA.

You need to buy a replacement set of disks for your machine. Contact Apple, they may well be able to help you. Otherwise, locating a *retail* Leopard DVD shouldn't actually be all that hard -- it might be a bit pricey, though.

Note: Merged threads.