When you say "the information messages," what was that? Do you mean the black screen with the DISH logo on it, and various messages? It will say "Press select" at the bottom of the screen somewhere. Your receiver has an "inactivity standby" feature. It's sort of like your computer going into sleep mode and putting up a screen saver. When you say it sounded like it was downloading, was it the "whirring" sound of the fan or the clicking noise of a hard drive? It did acquire signal and return to programming, correct? It sounds like it may have reset itself. Perhaps it took some sort of software download. The receivers are set for nightly downloads around 3am. Just keep an eye on it. If it starts powering itself on and off frequently you will need to replace the receiver.
A DVR with a fan that runs excessivley, and a really loud, clattering hard drive is one that has problems. Until it gets to be really problematic it can be hard to diagnose.
And hey, it's got nothing to do with being a girl. I know a guy who is a science major and he can barely hook up a water hose.