iMac g5 with a forgotten password

[cotton]

Bought a imac off a mate and want to reload it. He has forgotten the password so read somewhere that i need to reboot and hold down c with the disc in. I do that until the apple logo appears, then nothing happens. Ive left it for about 5 mins, the fans go mental but nothing on screen.

Do i need to hold the c for over a min? Its a backup copy, even though its recognised in the os, would that matter?

[cotton]

I think it may be something with the CD. I'm going to download/borrow another copy and try again.

[yoshi]

Holding down C during startup is to force boot form the CD. Are you getting a sign on the desktop of a Mac with a sad face or a blinking question mark? Sounds like the CD is either dodgy or not the right one.

Yoshi