IMac G4 How do I install Snow Leopard?

Hello everyone,
I'm a university student working with some faculty to get an iPhone app development program going and so far it has had it's obstacles.
We were given a bunch of iMac G4 17 inchers from the university surplus. All the iMacs have been wiped and have no OS on them. I do however have a copy of Snow Leopard that I would like install on them but have been having some troubles.
First off, the only Apple equipment I have are the iMacs. I have no Apple keyboards, only IBM keyboards. So when other suggestions online have told me to hold the command or Apple buttons, I'm at a loss.
When I start up the iMac it comes to a gray screen that has a flashing question mark. I restart and open the disc try, put in the OS disc and restart while holding the C button. The screen stays in gray for about 20 sec, then the iMac just spits out the disc and the question mark comes back.
Anyone have any suggestions of where to go from here to get this stuff installed?
Thanks,
Adam

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
If your G4s are at least 867 Mhz, you can install Leopard, but not Snow Leopard.
This thread explains how to get Leopard directly from Apple:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2392861&tstart=0
Alt keys = Option key.
Windows logo key = Command key.
For purpose of installation though, the 'C' key and/or option key booting may only work with Mac specific keyboards from Logitech, Microsoft, or Apple. You'll only need one of those USB keyboards to set it up. Once setup, the IBM USB keyboards will function fine. The only caveat will be troubleshooting and/or if they ever buy another Mac, they may have to get used to the Option, Command key configuration on the keyboard, as the orientation is opposite on the Mac keyboards from that of the PC keyboards.

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Message was edited by: Julian Brown

Julian Brown wrote:
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