access to files

[W. Nick Dotson]

I have some "tar" files of "html" documents which I downloaded on one of my XP boxes, which I used RAR to decompres the "tar" files and make them into 
files I could read using Windows Explorer and move around in the links Etc.  Of most immediate interest is the "Introduction to Linux, I've mentioned here bofore.  
What I'm wondering is, if I copy that file and any others in "tar" format to a CD-ROM, then, read in the "red Hat Linux 9 v2 (getting started), book and Intro to 
Linux, how to access my CD-ROM, can I copy these files onto my hard drive, decompress them and read them on my Linux box?  Or, would it be a better 
strategy for me to relocate the site from whence they were copied, then, go to it using "LYNX", and download the file directly onto the linux machine?  

Am I correct in assuming that I will have to find out how to perform 2 steps after either method of getting the files onto my Linux machine: decompressing the 
files, and running something that can read them?

Nick