advice on configuring a laptop windows system

You will probably have to make a few choices but here's one thing you to get you started right away. To rip your cd's, the best program to use is a free one called EAC. Just do a search and download it. Others will tell you not to use it because it has a lot of features and is very complicated for a new person. It is. Before you pay for a copy of dbPoweramp, though, you can go here: http://blowfish.be/eac/Setup/setup1.html That's a link to a step by step process on how to set up EAC to get the absolute best audiophile rips. You only have to go through the process once to set up EAC. After that, its as easy to use as any other software.

As far as WAV or flac, WAV is probably the safest choice for best sound quality. Most audiophiles seem to prefer it. flac is nice too because it has better options for tagging and takes up less space on your HD. But if you want the best SQ, I feel WAV would be the best way to go.

You could try http://www.audacity.com

Free, open, comprehensive. I use it for my work.

Have not tried it for copying cd's or playback.

Best

What would you use Audacity for? Unless it does things that I'm not aware of, I don't see the need for it.

Though a few years old, a 2009 article on the Computer Audiophile website provides a good overview.

Here's the link: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/309-computer-audiophile-cd-ripping-strategy-and-methodology/