[dnanian]

If you want to start from CD, you'd use your Tiger/Panther CD/DVD to start the machine. Then, choose "Disk Utility" from the Installer menu. (NOTE - if you're dealing with Panther, you must NOT use the Tiger DVD to restore Panther. Use the other technique below.)

With that, I'd first erase *and zero* the internal drive to clean it up. Then, use the "Restore" Tab to restore from the external drive to the internal.

If you want to use the Tiger DVD, you'll need to upgrade to Tiger. To do that, also do the Disk Utility erase and zero of both data and free space. Then, clean install Tiger to the drive. When it prompts to migrate data/applications from an old mac, point it at the FireWire drive. It'll import your applications and settings.

Finally, you can also try erasing and zeroing, then booting from the LaCie and using SD! to copy back.