i have downloaded so many freewares and demos of recording software and what not, even when i can get great sounds, there's always been one problem i've had.
say i record the bass track first.
okay now i want to lay down the guitar track.
the recording software will not let me listen to the previously recorded track and record a new one at the same time without the new track recording the older track onto it:/
i hav a drum kit, bass, guitars, mics, all the instruments i need, but i cant get my computer to truly let me multi-track? am i just more computer-illiterate than i thought? somebody help me!

Okay I am not sure that I fully understand your question, but here is what I do:

I use Audacity. Say I record the bass. Now I want to record the rhytm guitar. Plug Headphone into your computer. Then wear them.(lol). find the spot that you want to record at in audacity (usually a few seconds before the part comes in or at the beginning of the first track.) and then press record. you will hear your previously recorded track, and you will be able to record your new track while listening, but this track will ONLY contain your new guitar rhythm track. Then you can drag it around to wherever you want. (In Audacity.)

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why is the old track sound coming into the new track... the monitors/listening device your using?   or is it happening inside the computer?

to listen to a track and record another you really should be using headphones (not to loud or you might get bleed over into the mic).  If it is happening inside your software you have probably got something set up wrong. I had this problem when i first started using DAW.  I had multi track switched off and I think it was set to something like layered , or overdubs or something like that.  There are lots of people on here that can walk you through the process to get it fixed.

yeah use headphones and make sure the playback isnt being recorded as well

You are using separate stand-alone instruments in the windows / mac environment and want to record them separately while listening to certain tracks?
Can the instruments be used as vst plug-ins or can they at least be channelled / routed through a mastering / editing program like Cubase, FL, Audacity, Magix or what ever.
With a 'master' program you can then do anything you like to the tracks.

I 2nd (3rd?) Audacity.  Use the 3.0 Beta if you can... version 2 is a little flakey at times.  Just export each track separately to master it, as suggested by kings.

There are 2 options in Audacity, 1 to play other tracks while recording a new one, and another option for playing the currently recorded track as you're recording it.  Unless you've got a nice CPU with little-to-no lagging while you're working, don't worry about the second option.