You have had a lot of good advice here.When i came here i was a clueless n00b sure i had a certifacate on how to use windows but i DIDNT really know how to use windows like the ins and outs of the OS and the registry and i learned a hell of a lot i only knew basic ms-dos commands then i read negatives tutorial on dos unleashed and started messing about with commands and making really simple batch files.Then i started to proggrame using python which is quite simple check it out since you said C++ was to hard www.python.org Then i got fasinated by UNIX and i installed linux not because i thought i was eleet but because i was looking for a more stable OS because at the time windows was crashing to BSOD every 2 hours. so my advice to you is read read then when you think you have cant read any more because your eyes are red and sore guess what start reading again
it is all trial and error i learned more from my mistakes
if your looking for more info on the registry and other misc stuff check these links out
www.astalavista.com
www.majorgeeks.com
www.blacksun.box.sk
www.hackerthreads.org
www.neworder.box.sk