IMac struggling with constant pinwheel

Hi everyone,
I'm getting very desperate. My late 2008 iMac 24" is unable to perform simple tasks.
I run EyeTV near constantly when the mac is switched on, I think that's where symptoms first began.
It would suddenly crash more often before a recording or from waking up the screen.
Then TV programs would sometimes struggle to be played.
Most importantly the whole mac would freeze from waking up, either at the screensaver or at the normal home screen. When trying to restart sometimes it can't and a folder with a question mark appears. These symptoms have gotten progressively worse and found it harder to start up the mac again. Currently trying to back up files, but has been hard with the pinwheel coming most times.
I've tried using most troubleshoots, but the startup disk isn't recognised and no commands are either: cmdpr etc. So no hardware tests can be performed.
Please, any help would be appreciated

Hi, 2 ways to reinstall:-
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8177.html
http://macosx.com/tech-support/mac/would-like-to-reformat-hard-drive-and-reinsta ll-osx/366.html
Hope these links help..the reinstall takes between 35-45minutes plus the Update time.
Be sure to Repair Permissions after reinstall & again after Updates..if the issue continues after that I would consider a trip to the Genius Bar or an Apple Approved Service Agent...L

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