IMac PowerPC G5 10.4.7 1.8ghz 1GB RAM keeps freezing

Question

I hope someone my be able to give me some advice.
I went from an old black powerbook G3 bronze that I had had for years and had the usual motherboard issues toward the end of its life to an Imac G5 PowerPC, which I was very lucky to get some help with as I am a disabled student. Unfortunately, this meant that I was not allowed to buy it direct from apple and get applecare, and had to have it from a preferred supplier (in March 2005) with their own "support" - they are not mac specialists by any stretch of the imagination! The imac has always had a habit of freezing regularly, the drive would suddenly start spinning really loudly, the cpu would shoot up to 100% and the whole system would freeze. This happens whether I am running Word, Excel, Safari, iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, iCal or Addressbook. The support guy said it was nothing out of the ordinary and I just accepted that at the time, but a friend of mine recently came round to give me some mac tips and had the system freeze on him 3 times in an hour - he felt it was some kind of error made when the software was originally loaded by the preferred supplier, but the iMac is now out of their 12 month guarantee.
We ran disc utility from the installation disc to verify and repair the hard drive and erased the partition that had been installed on the hard drive by the supplier (pre-loaded with the software, so they didn't have to do too much when their disabled clients screwed up their computers, one of the support guys told me), did a full erase of the hard drive and then a clean install using the original discs that came with the computer, but still have the same problem.
Can anyone please offer some advice on what the issue might be?
Thanks!
2005 iMac PowerPC G5   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   1.8 Ghz 1 GB Ram, PowerMac8,1
1.8 GHz PowerPC G5   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   1GB RAM, PowerMac8,1 CPU type PowerPC G5 (3.0)

Answer 1

Christopher Mayled-
I am glad that you found the advice helpful. I had the same problem with my iMac and it *****. However, you did get your computer repaired and that is the bottom line.
We have three Dell laptops in the house, all covered by the infamous battery recall. Nobody from Dell has bothered to contact us yet. We have received no information in the mail. All three laptops were properly registered. I found out about the recall through the press.
I once had a stroller recalled by Toys R Us. I found out abput it by walking into a TRU and seeing the flyer hanging up on the bulletin board.
My guess is that if some of the recalled units fall through the cracks and do not get repaired then the company doing the recall saves some money. It isn't right but apparently it is what happens. Probably because of sheer numbers more than anything this happens but how do I know?
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck