EMac won't start from startup install disk

Aloha gang,
Our school purchased 25+ seats volume license of 10.4 last year and to date I have used 15. Most upgrades have gone on without a hitch but today I'm trying to upgrade some eMacs (same models as I have previously upgraded without problem) and it will not start up from the disk no matter what I try. I've tried:
* putting in the disk, clicking on install, clicking on restart so it restarts from the install disk
* putting in the disk, starting the computer and holding the C button
* putting in the disk, starting the computer and holding the option button to choose the install disk
None of those have worked. All that happens is the grey screen with the darker grey apple and the spinning thingy beneath it. I thought it might be that I was being impatient so I started it again, went to eat lunch and when I returned it was exactly where I left it. Any suggestions?
Oh yeah - I have tried using the original purchased media as well as backup copies of the media in all instances.
Thanks for any help you can give, gang!

nalani:
Thank you for indulging my ignorance and so graciously enlightening me as to your situation.
It seems to me that the difficulty you are experiencing has to do with individual computers not responding appropriately to the discs from which you are trying to boot them. The disks themselves may not be the issue at all, since you have previously booted other computers from them.
My first suggestion would be to check the computers themselves to see if they have issues that need to be corrected. If those computers are running previous versions of OS X and you have the install disks for them, see if you can boot from them and run Repair Disk. I would also check for hardware issues by running the appropriate Apple Hardware Test disk. BDAqua's suggestion to Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck is appropriate, especially if you are unable to boot from an install disk to run Repair Disk.
BDAqua's other suggestion also has merit. That is, using one of the computers that will boot the disk as Host, boot the recalcitrant computers into Firewire Target Disk Mode and run Repair Disk and if everything checks out OK, do the installation in that way.
No one is questioning the legality of what you are doing. It is just that most of the users who post have a single user or family license at best, so your licensing situation is a bit rare around here.
Please do post back with an update of how things go if you attempt any of the suggested approaches.
Good luck.
cornelius

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