Do you need the dongle to place a design in your machine? I would check with the manufacturer and check if they have updated drivers available to download. You say "some" designs. Does that mean you can download but not all? I think we might need a little bit more info.

I'm not sure what you mean. You can download the free designs, or all the designs if you have a membership to Cute, without having any software at all. How you get them to your sewing machine is a different matter, depends on the machine and the software for that, I suppose. What are you trying to do, and what exactly isn't working for you?

That said, welcome to the Cute Community, we're glad you're with us! Friendliest and most helpful place on the web for sewists and embroiderers! Hugs, Marji

I was in your place a couple weeks ago. My new computer with OS Windows 7 did not want to recognize my dongle from 3D Husqvarna Viking, but eventually it worked out. You can download any design in your download folder and you would be able to open them later when you figure out how to make your dongle work with new computer. This way you won't miss any design you want that are posting now.
I hope this will help you

Wonder why it's not recognizing it. Think it should. My daughter has 7 and it takes everything I've stuck into it.

As the others have said, you don't need any software to download designs, just to open/view them. If you let us know what software you have, perhaps someone with the same can help you get your dongle recognized. For example, Digitizer Pro 2.0 needs an updated HASP driver for the dongle to be compatable with Windows 7.

Welcome to the Cute Family!