Apache Home-Server WordPress Fail

You guys really I did try and search the site, codex and google but it’s all still over my head. I need someone to spoon feed me setting up a home server with Apache and WordPress.
I am running Windows 7 and XAMPP. I am aware of the risks of going live with a site from home but I still want to learn how and then move on to security. After 20 some odd hours my thick skull finally was able to do all of the dns port redirecting and apache config editing that allowed me to see an index on my server from another computer on the internet. I can run an install and use WordPress on the server machine using localhost only. However, once WordPress is installed I can no longer access it from an outside computer. If I start fresh again and install WordPress to my Apache root I can go to my server using my dns redirect I created and begin to configure (install) WordPress but after I add the database info and go to install It no longer becomes accessible from local host or an outside computer. If I keep the wordpress files in a directory called wordpress and place that folder in htdocs I can navigate from another computer to my server and see the index with the wordpress folder. It will let me open it as well and it will say I need a database and we configure it. Then its all right Sparky run the install but then it says I already have installed wordpress and then redirects me to login but in simple html text. The login then makes an infinite loop until I delete the wp-config file and start over.
Am I missing something simple?
Thanks to anyone for their time to help me.
It’s frustrating knowing so little.