powerbook g4

[towncarblue]

i just got my hands on a powerbook g4. ive never used MAC before , im totally clueless about this. when i turn on the laptop it takes a while to load up the i see a grey screen with a folder in the center of the screen , in the center of this folder is a question mark , the a pic of two faces (one white the other blue) , flashing back and forth, what is wrong with this thing??
do i have to install the OS or is it something else??

[faulkner132]

Most likely you need to do a fresh install of OS 9 or OS X (whichever you have). On a typical Mac boot, you should go either to a login screen or straight to your desktop.

[towncarblue]

is there any way to repair ( program ) . if so please post name???

[Mac Medic]

sounds like a corrupt disk... boot off of the install cd and run disk utility and repair the disk, this may help.

edit, this may help http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464

[towncarblue]

i got a copy of OS X.
when i turn on this laptop ,it took forever to load up the first screen , then it just stayed at the grey screen.. but a DARK GREY APPLE is now at the center of the screen. i went and reset the laptop but now all i get is the grey screen with the apple in the center. according to the previous owner i takes a long time for it to load ( reffered me to turn it on and check back in the morning ) what could be causing this??? what can i test??

[Mac Medic]

just hold down the "c" key when you boot the Mac with the CD in the drive. This will load the installer program, but instead of installing the OS choose utilities (or tools, it's something) in the top menu bar and run disk utility. Try to repair the disk. If it completes you should be golden, if not you will need to reinstall.