I want to run a Monero node from home. 

 **My PC details:**
 
 - Processor Intel (R) Pentium (R) CPU N3700 @1.60GHz
      1.60GHz

 - RAM -  4 GB 64 bit operating system x64 based processor 

 - Total space 465 GB, Out of this used space is 288GB and Free space is
   177GB


Right now I just want to familiarise myself with Monero by setting up the node and sorting out a wallet but in future I may setup a website which accepts Monero payments.  I have no interest in using my node for mining. I will only use it for conducting my own Monero transactions.
 
At the moment, I use my PC mainly for emails, websurfing, watching movies sometimes on youtube, or for using the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel..etc). Security wise, I use  As of today, there is free space of 177GB on my PC. I don’t have another PC just a laptop I use when travelling so want to keep it for that.
 
**My questions:***

 1. Can I run my node at home whilst using my PC as I do already? 

 2. After I am running a node, are outsiders able to connect to it? If yes, what is the risk here for my PC? I mean does my IP show or what?

 3. Can I prevent others from connecting to my node?

 4. What will be the best hardware wallet to use with my node?

 *Thank you in advance for any help.*