G5 2GHz DP (2003) - freezes when trying to restart or shutdown, etc.

Just bought a used G5 2GHz dual (2003 model) with 3 gigs of ram, 160 gig hd, original 9600 pro card plus another ATI VGA card (that's what system profiler calls it). I don't have an adapter for the 9600 pro card so i can't run my VGA monitor from it.

Problems:
1. If I try to restart or shutdown from the apple menu, the menu bar and dock go away and leave just the background and mouse and freezes. Never restarts or shuts down without using the button on the front. The mouse moves around but nothing else.
2. If I boot from the install/restore disc, it works fine but the hard drive is funky...sometimes i can do disk repair (and it will unmount) and other times it says it can't unmount.
3. If I try to run the Apple Hardware Test (2.1 on the disc), it tells me to hold the opttion key down while the machine boots. If i do that, it never boots and further, if i keep holding the option key down, the fans start running louder and louder till I really was afraid it was going to blow up and so hit the button on the front to turn it off.

So, how do I run AHT? All the manual and info I've read says to hold down the option key to access it but if I do that, like I said, the machine will not boot up.