I am a newbie with pc and starting from scratch

[chuckycheeze]

A few weeks ago , I just bought my first computer after I retired and now have the time to use it.
and its got windows xp home pc desktop intel motherboard ..
I am a total newbie , I want to make a disaster recovery bootable cd just in case my computer won’t boot up to my desktop and I also will use a ghost dual layer 8.5 dvd clone of my c:/ drive to return my computer to the pre- disaster state after the boot disk does its work .
I just bought some new software for my pc its system suite 5 ontrack from vcom with recovery commander program built in which is a disaster recovery program .The hang up is the bios
The technition told me that if I ever need to use the bootable cd in a catastrophy he instructed to do the following ( as an aside , I would image any boot disk would require this operation whether it be this program or retrospect backup pro 6.5 … )
Once a bootable cd is created, To be able to use the bootable cd to start up a computer that won’t boot to desktop/windows you must set up the bios so the cd rom boots before the hard drive otherwise the bootable cd won’t be any use to you …..
Entering a system's BIOS is a bit different on each system he said .
Most of the time, upon initial bootup, you'll see a small message saying 'hit DEL( is that delete key?) to enter Setup' (or it could be F1, F2 or F12).
Once you have entered the setup/BIOS, again, the Boot Order is located in different places depending on that version of BIOS.
Once located, then change the boot order so the cd rom boots before the hard drive.

My question is is it safe to change any default or pre-set configuration in the bios and could it cause any problems with the performance of my computer ?
And could someone tell me the step by step procedure to change this configuration , I can’t understand the technitions instructions , could someone make it more simple to understand . once you located it (locate what ?) and how do you change the boot order , do you type something in a dos command prompt or something or do you use arrows to highlight and press enter multiple choices? , before I try it I want to know a little of what I am doing .
The computer service men charge $125.00 to come to your house and do anything at all , I can't afford that on my small social security check
After you boot up then should you change it back to the way it was before ? or leave it to boot to the cd rom instead of the hardrive and what does mean anyway.....
Also to enter the bios area what does it look like , does it look like dos command prompts does the mouse work and what do you do shut off the computer and while its starting to boot or whatever hit some key combination on your computer and reach it that way and how do you know which key combination to hit , Please don’t sent me any links , I saw all the links already and they are no help to me … Thank You

[ajzchips]

Once you enter the BIOS, either with the DELete, F1, F2, etc. key (this usually appears when booting), moving around the menus is quite intuitive and self-explanatory. Changing the settings for BOOT ORDER, or whatever other setting, is usually done with the + or -, PageUP or PageDOWN, or the arrow keys (this is usually explained in the BIOS setup itself).
As long as you don't touch settings that affect memory timings and other speed settings, you won't get into any trouble. Then, you'll always see a "SAVE and EXIT" option to store the changes (which can be undone in the next reboot if you wish).

[chuckycheeze]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH I FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT NOW AS FAR AS NAVIGATING THE BIOS ...