If you bought a used camera, then one of the first things you should do is to reset the camera back to factory defaults. You want to begin using the camera with the settings in a known state. The main reset function appears in the menu system when the camera is set to one of the Creative shooting modes on the top dial: oe.e.;, P, Tv, Av, or M.
This full reset of the camera may take a few minutes to complete, as tthere are a number of sub-menus that have their own reset function. One good example of these sub-menu is the Custom Controls button programming. Go through the entire manu system. If a manu item opens up to its' own sub-menu system, then that menu item probably has its' own reset function. There are several menu items like this. Another example is the copyright settings, or the AFMA adjustments.
It is not clear to me what it is that you are looking for, and I suspect that you may have a typo in your initial post.
"...all I see is what I would see looking through the viewfinder. I cannot see the shot changing as I adjust my settings...."
You should always be able to see exposure changes as you look through the viewfinder.
It is possible to see these changes dynamically on the rear LED display, too. This is a functionality that seems unique to most Canon camera bodies. It is tied to the functionality of blanking the rear LCD when the Shutter Button is pressed. There is a menu item that controls whether or not the rear display is blanked, or turned off, when the Shutter is pressed.
You want to disable blanking the rear display. Next, you want to press [INFO] until the exposure settings are displayed. This screen is similar to the Quick Menu display that you see when you press the [Q] button. At this point, you shold be all set.
I frequently use this functionality, instead of the top LCD screen, when shooting from a tripod. It comes in very handy when you are shooting at night!
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"The right mouse button is your friend."
