Thanks!!! I have more questions
If I import my private key, will I also need to update the blockchain on the client or will my coins show up in my client without the complete download.
I also want to know will I need to update the blockchain in my client if I want to send the coins to another address at a later stage.
Thank you all for your help
You'll have to keep the blockchain current to see and spend the coins, but if you've already downloaded it you won't need to download it again. When you add a new address, the client scans through the blockchain to determine how many coins the new address has and which outputs are available to spend, which may take a while (and cause it to appear unresponsive) but doesn't redownload anything.