Newbie trying to get his feet wet

Hello

I'm looking to change careers. I'm currently a helpdesk tech, and have run into a ceiling where I work. I don't really enjoy the tech life, so I've been researching other possibilities, and Oracle DBA is looking promising based on my skill set and interests.

I thought a good first step would be to run through the "Core DBA Tasks" at the Oracle web site:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/getting-started/coredba.html

Step 1, I downloaded "Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.1.0) for Microsoft Windows"
(I'm running WinXP Pro SP1 off a spare PC. The specs meet Oracle's minimums, barely. I figure good enough for a test machine)

Step 2, I installed, and everything looked exactly like the Flash animation.

Step 3, "Monitor and manage database performance" <- this is where I'm stuck. (and being stuck so early on is very disconcerting).

It says: "Open the Internet Explorer browser and look for the bookmark 'Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control'."

I open IE... no bookmarks.

Now, when I installed the program, at the end IE launched. And I bookmarked the "Oracle Enterprise Manager" at: http://MACHINENAME:1158/em/console/logon/logon;jsessionid=ac... then like 40 random alpha-numeric characters. But the OEM doesn't look anything like the Grid Control, so I can't do the Grid Control tutorial.

I really want to go through all the Core DBA tutorials before signing up for a certification course. So I'm hoping I can get some help here. I found it impossible to sift through the million-plus Google matches that come up for each of my search phrases.

I'm hoping either somebody will tell me "you installed the wrong version, dummy," or better yet "the Grid Control URL should be http://MACHINENAME:-blah blah blah." Or maybe "You need Service Pack 2." (We run SP1 because of legacy software, incidentally, but I could reghost this one then upgrade). Any help will be very much appreciated!

--
Bill Cable - Steelers Fan & Star Wars Collector
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