If you have not installed the BlackBerry Desktop Software, you may not be able to connect to the USB ports correctly. If you are using Windows Vista, it should connect using the Windows native USB driver. This will alow you to view and maintain the Media card, but not the device.
After you install the software, you can maintain the device too.
I have a mac which is giving me trouble. Pocket mac isn't working for me so I was hoping to use somebodyelses windows
Macintosh is not suitable for this job, lack of software support. Windows is your only option.
Downloading the files take the most time. If you down load them to your Macintosh and save them to a thumb drive, it will really speed up the Windows install process. Less then an hour, tops.