If you're getting Oblivion and Skyrim then be sure to get a few of the helpful tools, such as Wrye Bash and BOSS installed to take care of the mods.

Wrye Bash has a useful feature called profiles (essentially it just swaps folders) to keep characters separate. They can run different combinations of DLC, mods etc. as the plugins list is part of the profile. WB is essential if you're installing and uninstalling mods to make sure they don't remove anything you need that's shared, and that replacement files don't prevent the originals from being restored.

BOSS makes sure that your mod list is in the right order, and you're not trying to use incompatible ones.

There are a number of others that I consider essential, but most of those are involved in making your own mods, so they can wait until you get that bug!

Edit to match yours, yes there are controllers you can use with PC TES games. See the Hardware forum at Bethsoft for threads on how to make them wok.

http://www.infoworld.com/t/microsoft-windo..._sec_2013-08-15

I found out why computer quit working after the latest round of MS patches...

How do you get back on your PC to remove the patches or install the updates to fix them? (just in case).

I was able to do a system restore.