Hi Moonwatcher7:
I shoot with very similar gear: a Nikon D70s and D300, Windows operating system. First off, you should have no problems transferring images from your card to your computer/desktop. You should be able to drag the images into a folder on your computer. Check and see if you have the current Nikon RAW converter for Elements. You also do not want to be transferring images via USB cable: it will take forever with RAW images.
Second, look at moving from Elements to LightRoom. It is a much superior product and is designed for Photographers. We did an exhibit at a recent gathering (Pacific Northwest Underwaterphotographic Society) comparing similar actions in Elements, Aperture, Picassa, Photoshop, and LightRoom, and most folks wound up ditching Elements, Aperture, and Picassa for LightRoom. RAW is definitely the way to go. Everytime you edit and save a JPG image you lose detail. RAW editing is non-destructive: edits are made and saved in a "side-car" file, so the original image is never touched.
Lastly, look at getting PhotoMechanic. It is a really great browser if you are shooting RAW. You can preview RAW shots much more quickly: Photo Mechanic does a superior job of quickly showing jpg images that are embedded in all RAW photos. You can rapidly delete unwanted shots, and assign ratings to the remaining pictures. The Ingest functions are a great way to rename files when they are transferred, and the ITC templates are really helpful.
It is initially a leap of faith to quit shooting jpg, but you will really be delighted with the results.
Have Fun,
Dan
