how to use vagcom, teeside

hi

iv just bought the vagcom rip off from ebay including the obd2 cable, but on trying to test i cant get any of the ports to work. My laptop runs windows 7 which i have been told wont run vagcom, only xp will, is this correct? if so has anyone got an xp laptop and a bit of vagcom experience that would be willing to try this programme for me, see if they can get it working??? im in teeside, goes without saying the milky bars will be on me

ha ha sounds like wicked advice, but i havent got a clue what any of that means lol, i originally has VCDS lite but was told that this will not work with the cable i bought, and i had to use the mini disc supplied, which is the older version of vagcom. When i open vagcom up, with the lead connected and the ignition on i get com1, com2, com3, com 4 and usb, when i select each one in turn, using the test function i get an error message with a red bubble containing a cross saying something along the lines of unable to connect, when i push the LED button it says port inaccessible. Iv done a search via my laptop for compatibility and its says the software is for use with windows xp, build 2? so i tried it on a friends xp laptop and got exactly the same as on mine, no joy! As before mentioned i really havent got a clue, if its not a simple plug and play im fecked lol, i need someone who knows the crack to have a look at it for me before i send the cable and disc back as faulty

lee you are a complete legend fella, that second link is exactly what i need, a divvies guide to sorting it out lol, very much appreciated