PLEASE HELP! New to Ableton & Launchpad

[Wil]

I am a completely new user to Ableton Live & Launchpad and have never used any other softwares for making music. This is my first program and I was hoping that I could get some basic tips for a first time user to help me better understand how this program works. such as step by step lessions in getting a simple beat to play.

I am also having problems with no audio sound after intalling Launchpad Edition . The launchpad seems to be responding to the software using the launchpad demo but when trying to launch a clip, the screen & launchpad shows as active but I get no sound at all. I have double checked that all the settings in the "Preferences / MIDI Sync Tap" are ON as stated in the install directions, but have hit a brick wall and do not know what to do from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

HP Pavilion Entertainment PC
Windows Vista OS w/64bit
2 duo processor
320GB HD