imac g4 wont boot up just a gray screen/spinning wheel

i am very new to apple products. I got this imac g4 and it all of the sudden wont start up. all i get is a gray screen with a spinning wheel. I do not know what operating system is on this computer. or where i would even begin to get the system disks to restore it. if anyone could please help me out i would really appreciate all i can get

If this computer won't start up...could be two things:

1. The operating system on it is "messed up"...and needs to be reinstalled.
2. The HD could have problems...and may need replacement.

To begin troubleshooting...you need some sort of OS disk to boot from. For the iMac G4...the version you buy depends on the specs of the computer...and the version you would like to install.

One word of warning...the disks for some OS versions that you may want to install can be expensive (relative to the value of the computer)...$80-$100 on e-Bay. So you have to think how much $$$ you want to invest into this computer before spending.

- Nick