To avoid getting jumped on by a lot of the users here - who understandably get quite annoyed at new users signing up to the forums and instantly asking the same old questions over and over and over again, I suggest that you spend a while reading some of the posts on here.
There are also search boxes at the bottom of each page which will help you locate topics on a specific subject.
And finally, there are 'stickies' (highlighted posts) at the top of each board covering subjects that newcomers ask all the time. Read them and you'll find most of the answers to your initial questions.
TDK_Man
