Also in the technical section, look for the information with reference to db ports and logins. And. yes get familiar with PHP and the config and login files.
I'm not sure what your later intention is, but If you intend to access your laptop Moodle from on the web or intranet, you'll most probably have problems because a local host is not url that will provide intranet/internet access. You need Moodle on a server with a real url.