Kindly explain to me in steps exactly how to use the "Download .torrent" feature in the simplest nontechnical terms possible; I am not Hedy Lamarr.

Thank you, goodnight.

Go to LimeWire's menu bar, File menu -> Open Torrent. Then browse to where your torrent file is & select it for LW to open & start downloading. (click GiF image below to see example of how to do.)

OK, so I'm not Hedy Lamar or anyone smart either, but the explanation presupposes that I know where the file is, and already have it. I thought the concept of bit torrent was supposed to be a process whereby I can go scour the world for large filesize media offerings, and then download them using "bit torrent" technology ... what am I missing, and where does one find the content files? ...

Start Limewire, minimize it to the task bar.

In your browser, search (google) for torrent sites (you could try 'song-name torrent', or 'movie-name torrent'). Ignore the commercial sites that first asppear in search results.

When you find a site that has the file you want, you should see somewhere on the page, "download this torrent". When you click on that a download ('open/save/cancel') window should appear. Select OPEN (not save!). You should then see the name of the torrent file appear in your LW download window.

Limewire is not a good torrent client (downloader) but is good enough to start with. Some torrent sites ban LW for technical reasons. So after getting a little experience with torrents, you should install a true torrent client, such as Vuze or uTorrent (both programs are free).

Some more help here: Beginners Guide You can skip the part about port forwarding, however if you want to get the fastest downloads, you will eventually want to learn about it.

Torrent-sharing is much easier than it looks, no more difficult than using LW, and it is not restricted to the Gnutella network (as is Limewire). Most torrent sites allow user comments, so you can read about a file before downloading it (fewer wasted downloads that way).