K. I've been mostly trying to help you with the stated goal of finding passable sounds that you can jam and write to that will work on your computer, but...
....and it's been very much appreciated. The initial learning curve, was/is steep, I dove in headfirst and made a lot of mistakes (tons of demo effects without understanding a thing about what I was doing). Today I experimented with dry signal only both mic'd and plugged directly into the AI, and I'm still getting pops and other noise, plus the occasion hiccup while recording (although no terminated tracks). I need to start testing cables and such. I deleted everything having to do with recording, redownloaded Reaper and paid for it, redownloaded EZDrummer 2 and paid for that and the Blues samples (I'm committed to understanding drums), and will go through both the manual and a slew of YouTube tutorials mentioned by someone in one of these threads (KennyMania/ReaperMania). I've ordered a BOSS ME-80 for external guitar effects to go directly into the AI, and will likely buy some Amplitube amp and effects models, not sure which yet. This is my NOODLE machine, my late night and early morning "hey, that phrase in my head would sound nice over The Thrill is Gone IV chord." This is the Dell XPS L702X 17" gaming laptop purchased new in 2012, 64 bit, 6MB memory, Intel i5-2450M CPU at 2.5 GHz running Windows 7. Until now I used it as my business machine for spreadsheets, writing, and web activities. By the end of the year I will order a replacement laptop for my business activities and move the files, then wipe this hard drive, add more memory, and reinstall all the Windows 7 shit. It does NOT have drivers for Windows 10 available from Dell and never will they say. Anything produced on here will only be fodder for final recording/production on my desktop.
That desktop is a Dell XPS 8300 64 bit i7-2600 CPU 3.4Ghz with 8GB RAM. That should be plenty after I max out the RAM. My intention is to mic my guitar signals with effects that produce the tone that I want, but I'm almost certainly going to add effects for final production on this machine.
Based on everything I've been hearing in feedback hear and elsewhere, the machines I have are plenty for the bedroom recording musician. The problem is certainly tweaking the settings and optimizing the approach to recording, mixing and production. I see the workflow now, and it's just a matter of putting in a lot of time and experimentation. It's daunting, but what isn't nowadays?
Right now, I'm working on a Robin Trower-esque Sweet Little Angel, and my dry vocals made we want to shoot the computer it sounded so bad. Practice, practice...