You can get in touch with me through aim, I'll be happy to help... faster replies than here, but...

It's just like flashing a ROM, and no, you do not need to hard reset after the flash is complete, everything else will be in tact.

Recovering a bad radio flash is tougher than recovering a bad ROM flash, so BE CAREFUL! Actually be sure nothing else is running on your computer and it's stable and doesn't risk crashing. Because my USB cable has the end pulling out a little, I set the phone down before the flash and don't touch it till it's complete.

Just be cautious about it and you'll be fine.