[MiKTeX] installation of miktex packages

[ravi <rv...@gm...>]

Hi,
I am a newcomer to miktex and latex. I would appreciate it if I can get
help on the following points:
1. I have installed the complete version of miktex from the TUG dvd. I woud
like to know if I can install with a procedure similiar to the one I use
for R. That is, install just the base version of Miktex with the essential
packages in a folder (called as, let's say, Miktex29). I woud like to
install all the other packages in a separate folder (called as, let's say,
OwnFolder). When I decide to update Miktex to the next version, I just have
to install the base version in the Miktex30 folder. And I can update the
rest of the packages in the OwnFolder. Indeed, I would like to update all
the packages at any time, in between the Miktex versions. I am not sure how
I can make all this work with the package manager. Please let me know how I
can do this.
2. I resently have some .sty and .cls fies saved in the following path :
C:\texmf\tex\latex\misc
I would like to install some packages like foilstex. They have .dtx and
.ins files in them. I would like to have help in installing them. How do I
do it? Do I install them in the same texmf folder? As I understand it, I
would have to create a whole lot of subfolders for having the TDS
structure. Do I create a seperate texmf2 folder for these files and include
them in the root structure? I am not sure how all this will work out. I
have found some fragmented information in the manuals and on the net. I am
not sure how I can piece together all this information. I woud appreciate
any help that I can get.
Thanks,
Ravi