Newbie: some key combinations don't work

[len]

Good Morning

Trying to learn and use Emacs.  I am running XP Professional and have
downloaded and installed Emacs 21-3.

I have printed a few references and cheat sheets.  Things that I am
finding very frustrating are when I try and use some of the commands I
get totally different results.

Examples:

C-h causes backspace

M-< and M-> to move to top and buttom of buffer just beep.

etc

I have read through the various news groups and appears that I may
need to change keybinding (unsure of where) or make changes to
my .emacs file.

I would like to use Emacs as documented in manuals and reference
material but keep hitting road block after road block of things that
don't work as documented.  Maybe this is due to the GUI or what ever.

Could someone explain why this is happening and point me to somewhere
to kind of setup my Emacs so as documented commands work.

Len