How do I replace an outlet?

Watch out if your house has aluminum wiring. You need special connectors for this stuff, and it may not be compatible with your outlets.

Failure to properly address aluminum wiring will cause a fire hazard. Improperly done joints will oxidize and arc out under load.

ALuminum wiring is illegal under most codes now, but is common in construction from 1970 through the mid 80's.

When you wind the wire around the screw wind it clockwise so that when you tighten the screw you are also tightening the wire loop. The screw for the hot wire is supposed to be brass and the neutral is silver colored.

Sperry Instruments makes a really handy little device that you plug into your outlet. It is a little yellow box with three lights on it that indicate whether the wiring is done correctly or not. It's best not to rely on a lamp because it will still light if you reverse the hot and neutral wires and will not tell you if you got the ground right. You can also use the tester to confirm that the power is off.

Your local Home Depot or any large hardware store should have a number of DIY wiring booklets as well as the Sperry or similar tester.

Thanks everyone for your instructions and also for your warning. I was able to change the outlet without any problems. Yeah!

Now for my question:
The other outlet I wanted to replace was different so I left it alone. One of the sockets is controlled by a switch and I saw that there were 2(it looked like 2) red wires connected to where the black wire would normally be. The 2 black wires were in one hole where there would normally be one (this socket is not controlled by the switch). Anyway, I'd prefer not to have either one controlled by a switch if possible - what do I do with these red wires? Further help would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the info Elizabeth.