Apple IIGS, got one free today, need some help, please

[jdeeley@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca (Julie A. Deeley)]

I just inherited an Apple IIGS with 2, 3.5 inch drives, one 5.25 drive,
one small keyboard, and an RGB AppleColour monitor. The janitor at the
school where I work gave it to me. It belonged to a teacher who worked
there a few years ago. The teacher said that after a power outage the
computer quit working, and asked the janitor to throw it out.

When I plugged everything in it made a noise, the screen said "Check
Startup Device", and a little mac symbol goes back and forth across the
screen.
 The Apple web page had some info on this computer, but I just bought my
first computer 6 months ago and Apples web page is a bit techie for me
just yet.

What I would like to know is:

1. What do I need to do to get it running, or is it fried?

2. Can I use any of it's components on my current mac, (p-mac 6100/60)
and is there any good reason to (ie. the keyboard as a spare?)

3. Does it need some sort of permanant boot-up disk inserted to work?
and if so, how do I get the OS from my current mac to the GS? (Assuming
I can download it from the 'net somewhere to my current mac)

4. Is the OS available from an ftp site, say, support.apple.com?

Keep your replies simple, if you can. I've gotten pretty good with
simple ftp's and stuff, but I'm no guru.

Email replies or posts are welcome, any info appreciated, especially if
somebody is using a IIGS.

Julie
--

--