Welcome to SubSim Kennym! The best place for great info is THEBERBSTER's
SH4 <> TUTORIALS <> HOW TO DO IT <> INFO <... thread. The main point to keep in mind with the Silent Hunter games on a 'modern' OS (Windows), is that you do not want the game in or below the 'Program Files' or 'Program Files (x86)' folders. Windows itself will 'protect' those folders and prevent a mod from taking. All that info and more is in THEBERBSTER's post.