Help!

Okay, I’m not very car savvy at all. I can check the fluids, pump up the tires and do general small repairs. This weekend, I drove a mile away to visit a friend. When I got there, I turned on the air conditioner for a brief second. When I did this, the most foul smell came through the vents. When I shut off the car, smoke started to come from underneath the car and up through the hood. The engine wasn’t hot. Could this be that the air compressor burnt up? Can I drive it like this until I can repair it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

How about opening the hood and see what is going on! Possibly the A/C compressor is seized up and the smoke was the burning belt. If so, you can still drive the car, just don’t use the A/C or defroster.