Start-up problem with iMac

Hey everyone,

My Mother is having a problem with her older model iMac. I'm not 100% on the model year, but if I had to make an educated guess it would be sometime around '04-'05 (not sure if this really matters....) You can obviously tell the newest technology isn't something she's too concerned with, as she uses the computer for very minimal internet browsing and for checking her e-mail only. Yesterday, she tried to start the computer and encountered "a blank grey screen with a "loading circle" repeating over and over again" (as described by her). Obviously this computer is pretty old, but we would like to fix it if we can considering she doesn't really need much more than this basic desktop. Has anyone else had this problem, and does anyone have any suggesting of things to try? Or is this computer fried? Thanks for the help, MUCH APPRECIATED!

Robert

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P.S. the model of the computer is the old iMac with the blue bubble-ish sides with white accents. Like this one: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ing.jpg/250px-Indigo_iMac_G3_slot_loading.jpg