Blinking folder with question mark at startup

I found an old, unlabeled CD at work in our file backup book. I put it in, and tried to copy the zip files to my HD to see what it was. It wouldn't read the disk, and everything slowed to a crawl. After waiting for it to come back, it didn't, so I force quit and relaunched the finder. When the finder came back, I shut down the iMac and restarted. Now I'm only getting a blinking folder icon at start up. Tried to access the install CD, tried Option+startup, even tried Firewire Target startup, reset the PRAM a bunch of times. No joy. Any ideas on what's happening or how to fix?
Thanks! Andrew

Sorry.
I really wouldn't have expected that (though zip files are sometimes automatically decompressed by a Mac, let's hope they weren't firmware updates). Perhaps someone else will come up with an idea before the shop. Was there a big scratch on the optical disc? Optical drives reflect laser light, so that's shouldn't have damaged the drive.
Your problem has me mystified.
Was there a little folder with a flashing question mark (yes!) in the middle of the screen? You had apparently done everything correctly. What kind of Mac have you? The PowerMac G4 takes a little battery to keep NVRAM stored, but that would be an absurd coincidence.
If Firewire Disk Mode works at all, you can use a second Mac's 'Disk Utility' to see if something happened to your Mac's file system.
If your Install Disc is a DVD, try the 'c' trick on a bootable CD, if you have one. (It's hard to fit MacOSX on a CD, but some utilities will do it.) If you have a bootable GNU/Linux for your Mac, you can try that optical drive.
Your, or a friend, may have a bootable USB Flash drive (if you have an Intel Mac).
In any case, you can try booting with the 'Alt' key held down and see whether your NVRAM give you a menu of bootable drives.
In all cases, hold your hands .-) on your computer to see what disks spin, and in what order.
No need to reply, for you seem most competent. However, these are some ideas to think about.
A shop is far less trouble, unless someone here recognizes the problem. Help here from anyone else?

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