You could use flash if you like, but it would be like trying to understand the full meaning of pi if you 'fancied having a look at maths', flash is hectically complicated but incredibly useful if you have a lot of time to learn it (i'm basically bitter because it still gets the better of me)
CS3 is the absolute nuts, I can't speak highly enough of it - definitely get involved if you've got the finances to get behind it, otherwise it might be worth toying around with a lower version or even photoshop elements as a precursor
i had the same problem with my old pc, you have to update your bios and whatnot... can turn into a bit of a mare - spent the whole time on the phone to the warranty folk and ended up having to wipe my hard drive - definitely worth getting sombody who knows their stuff to look into it rather than...