a new start

Hello, I am a new mac user.

Thanks to my friends and family, my computer is already full of music and videos I don't like and I want to erase everything off my hard drive. I just want a new start. However, I need to save some music and applications. I can save stuff on my external, but I do not know how to save applications (such as adobe) or to clear my hard drive. Anyone have any suggestions?

I think you're making this harder than it has to be. Simply create a new user account (System Preferences => Accounts), then delete the old account. All of that data, which should be stored in the users folder will be wiped out.