Let's see if I can make this "5d for dummies" understandable..I use it all the time, but not sure how it will translate, so be patient! All of your designs, free, purchased, etc. need to be in one place. I save them on a 34G stick and an external backup. You can also use a rewriteable CD, but I outgrew that quickly and didn't want to search several CD's to find my designs. I would advise against saving them on your computer harddrive, you will read horror stories of crashes that eat the whole bunch with no way to recover them! You will eventually have lots of money tied up in these designs, and it is best to protect them.
On a rewritable CD, USB stick (8g is a good starting point) and/or an external drive, start a filing system with a main folder named EMBROIDERY DESIGNS or whatever suits you. inside that main folder, start folders named ALPHABETS, ANIMALS, BIRDS, ETC. so you can get a head start on being able to actually find the designs when you want to use them. Once that file is set up, you are ready to start!
If your free designs are on a cd, you will need to insert the cd into the computer, open the cd, and copy the design file/s (don't try to read or open the file at this point) and paste them into a folder named DESIGNS TO SORT or whatever suits you (that can be on your computer harddrive if you like, but again if it crashes.....). Collect all the designs you can find from your new collection and place them there.
Open your 5d system and go to ORGANIZER. It will give you the option of viewing your designs. You can copy, cut, paste, delete and rename all your files in Orgainizer. One they are viewed and renamed to your satisfaction, you can move them out of the SORT file and into your Animal, Babies, Lace, etc. folders, you will have one place to look for designs and they will be saved in some semblance of order (my sort file is pretty big right now, so stay on top of that if you can, lol).
Now if you would actually like to stitch some designs, you will need a small 1G USB stick or a cable to connect your machine to your computer if that is an option. Copy and paste (DO NOT CUT AND PASTE) your chosen designs from your folder onto the 1G stick and place the stick into your machine. You will have to use the manual from here, as I have a Diamond and don't know your machine screen does, but it is pretty easy!
When you get your lessons, they will tell you lots of things 5d will do, including edit features, digitizing features, etc. but this should allow you to use your designs now! Good luck and enjoy your new favorite toy!