Using a multimeter

I just posted a previous thread about my headlight trouble and was told to get a multimeter or test light. I plan to get a multimeter, but I have never used one before…Do I need to have the car on and idling? I assume I just touch it to two contacts and see if “juice” is going through. Any particular settings or tricks I should know?

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-20,SUNA:en&q=multimeter+tutorial :sipread: 94

thanks for answering my question :sipread: