i just installed BG2 and the character creator with all the dnd stuff is overwhelming, some suggestions from BG2 vets would be appreciated

I find a Warrior to be the easiest to start with, once you get into casting things become quite a bit more difficult.

My advice is play it though as a straight warrior, get used to the other classes when you get other party members and the second time play it through however you want (this game warrants multiple playthroughs)

Oh, and watch out for mind flayers...

1.Gender will affect romances and very few NPC-s

2.Portait won't affect anything

3.race will affect which classes you can choose and max stats

4.Character class self explanatory

 -sub class If i were you wouldn't change from main subclass if you play for the first time

5.aligment some weapons can be wielded only by characters witch correct aligment

6.attributes

 -strenght how much things you can carry, some weapons and armors  require high strenght score

-dexterity affect armor class(IMPORTANT the lower armor class, the better)

-condition hitpoints although in bg2 much less than in bg1

-inteligence how many spells can you write in spellbook and chance of success you have, also few dialogue options require high int(not much)

-wisdom bonuses to cleric spells

-charisma pricess in shops

7.skills how good are you in using weapons(and spells if you choose spellcaster)

8.apperance and name nothing at all.

edit: Specific Name can trigger a fight.

There are some helpful FAQs here- the AD&D guide in particular is very useful (like you, I didn't have a clue about AD&D before I started playing the game and this sorted me out).

If you have the original Baldur's Gate, there's a mod called BGTutu that allows you to play both 1 and 2 consecutively with the same character. Well worth doing, also seek out the widescreen and tweak pack mods, they really make a difference to the vanilla game.