2008 iMac Hard Drive Replacment Trouble

I am replacing the hard drive in my 2008 iMac with a WD 1TB drive and I'm having trouble with installing Snow Leopard. I ordered a fresh full copy of snow leopard from Apple and am trying to get it installed but my imac won't accept the disc. I'm not entirely sure if there's a disc inside the machine but I can get the OS X disc about 3/4 the way into the slot so I don't think there's anything stuck in there.
If I can't get it into the drive I guess I'm stuck unless anybody can help me with different install options. Right now when I boot the computer and hold down C I get a flashing folder icon with a question mark. I need help big time!

Yikes, you can't erase or format the drive while booted from it, but try this...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
Remove the original account without saving it, then in Diak Utility, Secure erase Free Space.

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    <Edited by Host>

    thanks for the quick reply kappy,
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    My computer is part of the iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive replacement program. What is the best external modem to use in order to back up my files prior to me dropping off my computer.

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