run levels & VI (M)

I'M reading a linux training book designed to work with CentOS and I'M having trouble with run levels. The book is saying that to modify the startup file for the runlevel I need to edit /etc/inittab, but there is no /etc/inittab on my Centos. I did find two folders (init & init.d) within /etc/ but no inittab editable file. So I decided to learn like any real Linux enthusiast should and use the man pages which pointed me towards the file /var/run/utmp. After locating said file I was not allowed to open it as a regular user. I tried to open it in VI from root but it was filled with "@^". Could someone please help me out here. This last point also brings me to a problem I'M having with VI. When I press Esc to enter commands my computer just gives me an error sound from the speakers. If I press it several more times it says recording at the bottom left. Thanks for any and all replies.

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