First, The electrical. If you can jump the battery, but two hours latter no start, I would load test the battery. You can have a fully charged battery, but if it won't hold a load you won't be able to start your car, and it will take longer than normal to jump it, so make sure to load test the battery(it must be fully charged before testing). With your new battery, or newly charged batt. you can check for a volt draw on the batt. by disconecting the poss. side of the batt. and holding your mulitimeter, to the cable and the batt post, it should read a draw.
It is possible to get defective alternators and batteries, off the shelf, that is why our shop uses a rebuild shop for the alts, and we only sell Interstate batt. in our shop(we have had little to no problems with them, and good warenty).
If you can find a Interstate distributer near by ask them for a "BLEM". They are less than perfect (by out side aperience only) and thay are almost half the cost in most applications.
For the Half-Shaft/Drive Axle, on front wheel drive vehicles, most are all the same.
1)Take the wheel/rotor off.
2)disconect the lower knuckle from the hub.
3)Remove the retaining nut located in the middle of the hub, retaining the out side spindle of the drive axle to the hub.
4)Once free pull the axle out, the inner spindle has a retaining clip on the spindle so it will stay in the transaxle, but it should pull out.
To install just reverse to procedure.
Good luck
