My gamma is much brighter than what is supposed to be,(i.e. the background is a blinding white on my screen) and I was wondering, how to change my gamma....

Assuming you're on Windows 7: Right click on desktop ---> Personalize ---> Display ---> Calibrate Color

alrtighty, thank you, when it comes to windows 7.....
I'm extremely lost.

youll get used to it, took me a while.

Windows Xp is still the master of all.

As far as I know that only affects your desktop gamma, it's reset when playing games. I remember I had a monitor that was really bad at showing dark scenes, so I had to download another program just to force a global gamma setting. (even Catalyst Control Center couldn't do it)

OP, doesn't your monitor have a brightness and contrast setting?

I don't think so... I've always used this to adjust my gamma/contrast for games, and have never had problems with it.

EDIT: That said, I'm on a laptop. Maybe desktops are different because of the external monitor? I wouldn't know.

Most desktop monitors have controls for such, tho you can also use your graphic card settings if you prefer.
Laptops often have a way to do it as well, but it doesn't always work seems like - maybe it depends on drivers and other things, dunno. It's usually pressing a combo of keys, probably different for each laptop/maker.

a lot of games are set to override desktop gamma settings for the settings in it's own preference