Icon Help

ok so i've searched and nothing useful came up. could someone link me to where i can find out how to change the icons??? or maybe give me step by step instructions?? i've been using Tiger for a full 2 days now and so far this is one of two things i cant figure out.....

the other pertains to my external hard drive. its not detecting or even starting up when i plug it into my macbook. i've got a temporary solution of hooking it up to my PC and sharing it under my computer, but would rather not have to go this route every time i want to use it.

For the icon question: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47783

For the external hd question: how is it formatted?

I don't know how to quote this properly, so maybe someone can help me with that, but I found this answer from the FAQ posted by Eric.

Q: How do I change icons?
A: The following step by step assumes you have an icon used for another file already that you want to use. You should be able to copy an unused icon file in much the same way.
1) Select a file that already has the desired icon applied.
2) Hit Command+I to open the Info pane.
3) On the top left of the window you'll see a small icon. Click it to highlight it.
4) Hit Command+C to copy it to the clipboard.
5) Open the info pane of a .ppk that DOESN'T have the icon applied by doing #2.
6) Click the top left icon to highlight it, and hit Command+V to paste the new icon in place.
(credit step-by-step: surfwax95)
You can also use an application like candybar or shapeshifter to alter icons and themes. A search on these forums will result in lots of information.

-Bows to MHC, her expertise, and her very quick typing fingers.-

The Mac-Forums Typing Champeen is RNDdave. His keyboard is sizzlin' and smokin'.

I downloaded a program called CandyBar, try googling for it, it was able to replace folder icons, applications, and dock icons..works great!