[MiKTeX] TeX to pdf

[Jeff A. <jef...@in...>]

Dear MikTeX Users,
 
  Can anyone spare a few moments to assist a history professor with the
direct conversion of a .tex file to .pdf?  I use Windows XP, and I have
already converted an existing MS Word file to TeX using Word2TeX, but
getting to the .pdf is proving difficult.  
 
I have read a dozen sites that detail the seemingly simple commands needed
to perform this conversion directly, without the need for ps files or dvi
files, but you see, my research involves reading old Japanese text, not
code, and I'm afraid that I don't actually know where to input those
commands.  (Nothing happened when I tried this from my C:/ prompt.)  
 
Can MikTeX perform this conversion without compiling my file into a dvi
file?  (Because I don't know how to do that either.)  I also downloaded
PdfTeX, but I am unable to install it.  I'm sure that all of this sounds
quite hilarious, but if someone can toss me a line and walk me through it,
I'd be very grateful.
 
Yours from the Humanities,
 
Jeff
 
****************************
Jeffrey Alexander, Ph.D.
Department of History
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
604-822-5195
jef...@ho...