HT1533 iMac turns on with a blank screen and small grey world in the middle which flashes. Cannot do anything?

Been having problems with my addmin password / user name. For some reason it stopped recognising me. Reinserted the Os x disc's that came with the iMac so I could change the password & username. This worked for a day but has now locked me out again. Tried to check a few things and now have a blank display with a grey world flashing up in the middle of the screen. Now and then it changes to a grey folder. Cannot stop this happening. Computer is unusable. Mick

Sounds like a crashed HD. Please carefully follow Apple's instructions in
Gray screen appears during startup

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