Hi all!
Allow me to first say: Long time listener first time caller. I'm so glad zen cart has such a profound support network behind such an amazing product.

Premise:
My company (C-Thru Grips, design and create custom and MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA licensed golf grips with a clear grip.)is currently with a host that has our domain and database that does not support FTP/mySQL/ or allow me to mess with any php. The host came preloaded with Joomla which I refuse to use. I've been charged with first creating the store before we switch to a new host and move our domain etc. to mitigate downtime and loss of profit.

So I am currently developing our zen cart on my work pc (localhost) using xampp. I've run into a few different situations and have, of course, developed a few questions.

1st Question:
Am I wasting my time by making this cart offline and then uploading it to one of the hosts zen cart supports? (most likely Camelot) I ask this because as I add products I don't think they are being added to my localhost file system, I think they are being thrown into the database I created using xampp. If this is the case how would I move the database with all the work I plan on doing to my host and where is this mysterious database currently located on my localhost pc?

2nd Question:
This question may be based on my first question. I've added a handfull of products to one of the categories I created. When I view the page zen cart outside of the admin area each product is in the category where you can change your quantity and add to cart but as far as getting to that products unique page is not possible. What am I doing wrong that I can't view individual products' product page. I noticed at the bottom when adding the product to a category it gives me the option to type in the product's link. Do I have to create the page or is it auto generated and I'm just missing something?

I hope I've been clear and concise with my description of the problems I'm having. Any help is more than appreciated. I look forward to hearing back from one of the experts I've seen time and again solve other people's problems (and some of my own.) Thanks in advance!
-Dave