I don't know much about IR yet, thus the many questions to follow

Does anyone know whether the IR on the livedrive can be used as a general purpose IR remote control signal receiver? Does it actually show up in Windows Device Manager as a configurable IR device that can be used by any 3rd party application (to receive any IR frequencies in the normal range)? I think this is different than a digital IrDA device that's more common in notebooks and some desktops (in the form of an IR header on the motherboard).
I want to use a universal learning remote control database program on the PC that can read and store the signals from all of my remotes. Unfortunately, what's currently available from those custom installation home theater companies seem to be old-fashioned, unwieldy IR receiver boxes that hook up to the PC via RS-232 (serial) with primitive terminal interfaces.
Anyways, then it's still a matter of finding a way to connect one end of IR emitter cables to the PC (usually 2.5mm mono jacks) and tape the LED node end to the IR window of the components you want to control.