IMac Has Flashing Folder and Weird Buzzing/Reading Noise on Startup! Help!

My 2008 iMac froze last nite, and now wont turn back on. It boots to a gray screen with a flashing folder with a question mark on it.
The weird part is that as soon as i turn it on, it makes a loud buzzing/reading noise, as if its trying to read a disc or hard drive. It buzzes like this about ten times, and then stops.
I cant find my install discs, so im currently at a total standstill. Any other solutions besides reinstall? Also, what is the weird buzzing/reading noise?
Thanks!

Ok I got the 10.5 install discs, but I still cant boot. I tried holding C and it gets to the Apple logo, but then the screen goes gray and says "you need to restart your computer"
When I try holding D to run diagnostics, it gives me the language choice and then says something like this system does not support hardware test.
I cant boot into single-user mode unless i have the install disc in, but then it just checks the install disc and says it's fine.
Any thoughts?
Message was edited by: SugarFree13

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IMac Has Flashing Folder and Weird Buzzing/Reading Noise on Startup! Help!

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