[wyteboi2007]

i have a few used imac g3's one had bad hard drive so i took it out and replaced it with one from a gateway tried to put os x on it but hd was not big enough so tried os 9 now get message says start up disc not mounted when try to install so took that hd out an put a 20 g hd from another imac g3 as assumed cd rom in that one didnt work cause nothing would boot from the cd rom an no it wasnt locked zapped the pram already well put that hd into mac that had working cdrom now i get a bunch clickin noises sounds like cd rom but have read other things sayin clickin could come from bad hd and now nothing will boot from cd and dont get the little mac os folder in center screen i did shake machine few times before puttin back together dropped screw inside had take further apart get out anyone help please

[ThreeDee912]

i'm a bit confused you never used periods in your post it was very hard to read i could not understand where a sentence ended i think i can still help

Anyway, you need to reformat the disk using Disk Utility on the OS X install disk before you can do anything with them. Open Disk Utility (one of the menus) and select the disk, select "Erase" tab, make sure it's set to "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)" and then click "Erase" or "Format" or whatever the button is.

[wyteboi2007]

yeah sorry not to good with grammer. i had already done that when trien install os x on hd that i pulled from gateway, but hd to small to complete install. i then tried install os 9 classic. when tried this i get error says start up disc not mounted. i will try os x again see what happens. the other thing that is giving me trouble was i pulled what thought was good hd from an imac g3 an put in this same machine. now i dont get anything jus clickin sounds. in the other machine when started up had little mac os guy in center screen. i know this means no os on machine. when tried install tiger nothin would happen same with os 9, so i assumed cd rom bad as wont boot from cd. that why i pulled and put in machine that i had tried the gateway hd on. hope didnt confuse you as i'm dealin with big mess i got screws every where hahahaha but thanks for your help will try put gateway hd back in an run os x jus to try erase hd an start from scratch at least i'll have workin comp for kids they love helpin dad