New to conversions not computers/video, need advice (fraps & DV)

[noprotein]

I am a budding student videographer so i work a lot with video. I use many different formats (minidv, higher quality minidv, vhs) and will be reading all the guides on this site and many others however I'm sure you all can attest to how much there is to sort through and start on. I'm willing to do the leg work but could use a few basic tips.

First off, let me preface with my specs:

AMD Athlon64 x2 4800+
2gb Ram
3x 250gb WD 7200rpm drives
winxp not 64 updated.

From my school and saving, I have student/full versions of Adobe Production Suite, Vegas, Ulead, and full versions of popular converting programs (TMPGEnc, All video converter, virtualdub, AutoGK, winmenc, IMTOO).

To the point, I need a few helpful starting points.

Already captured DV footage at ~14GB per tape. Converting to xvid/divx best quality so i can put them on dvd for clients. Menus are good, but i can try to learn that seperately.

Same quality DV footage (~14gb per tape) to home movie quality. Doesn't have to be "sellable" but viewable for friends and family.

Fun stuff. I record in Fraps a lot and would like a good way to convert those MASSIVE files to watchable or even uploadable sizes to websites. I play warcraft and some FPS games and like working with warcraftmovies and other sites. It'd be nice to put my stuff up there.

I'm testing out virtualdub and autogk currently and they seem to be doing the trick but what framerates/quality/settings should i be looking into and things of that nature. Any help is greatly appreciated and I know all this volunteer info is amazing. You guys do great work. Thanks again

[noprotein]

Addition: What's best way to capture these tapes for what i'm trying to do. I've used each vegas/ulead/premiere/windows movie maker and honestly don't know which one i liked best. Also, some of them automatically break them into chunks, will i have to rejoin these anyway? Or are chunks good to have if i'm putting them onto dvds because I can use them as Auto Chapters or something.