When we first bought our home PC with vista, everything was fine, as of a month or two ago, maybe it has been happening the whole time, we haven't been able to download anything. I've tried turning off windows firewall, my pop-up blocker, all of those things. For example, I tried downloading a Nvidia driver for my computer, it says run or install, either or, you can click to save or whichever, it downloads the file and then disappears, no matter where you save it, it never shows up. I also play World of Warcraft, the addons work the same way, vista either puts up the adminstration and asks to allow or not, I say yes, and it still downloads and then disappears. It is also happening with hotmail, when people send attachments, vista just blocks them. Any way around this?

Hi, Before moving on, please confirm the following points: 1. Have you installed all the latest Windows Updates? 2. Have you installed any third party security program recently? 3. Do you have any third party browser tool bar? If so, please temporarily remove it to test this issue. 4. Do you have any third party browser? If so, does the download issue occur on the browser? Mostly, the following factors can cause the issue. 1. Incorrect system settings. 2. Incorrect security software settings. 3. Corrupt IE components. At this time, lets take the following steps to narrow down the issue. Step 1: Ensure download folder. ======================= Please do not download any files to system folders on your computer. The system folders include: C:\ C:\program files\ C:\Windows\ Step 2: Reload IE settings ======================= 1. Click the Start Button, type "inetcpl.cpl" (without quotation marks) in the Start Search box, and then press Enter. 2. In the Security tab, click "Delete" under "Browsing History". 3. Click "Delete all", check the option "Also delete files and settings stored by add-ons.", and then click Yes. 4. Click Close. 5. Switch to the "Advanced" tab, click the "Restore advanced settings" button and then deselect "Enable third-party browser extensions". 6. Close the IE Window. Step 3: Take a Clean Boot to test this issue ======================= 1. Click the Start Button type "msconfig" (without quotation marks) in the Start Search box, and then press Enter. 2. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray). 3. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK". 4. Restart the computer to test this issue. Note: To restore the computer to use a Normal Startup, repeat step 1 above. Then click "Normal Startup" on the General tab, click "OK", and then restart the computer. If the issue still persists, please continue to take step 4 and 5. Step 4: Download a file for testing. ======================= Please download a file from Internet for testing (mp3,exe,msi,whatever). Save the file to C:\Users\"username"\Downloads folder ("username" is your account). Step 5: Try to find the file in Virtual Folder. ======================= 1. Double click Computer on Desktop. 2. Click Tools->Folder Options. 3. Choose View tab. 4. Select "Show hidden files and folders" 5. Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files(Recommended)" NOTE: We can check the option after troubleshooting. 6. Apply the changes. 7. Double click Computer on Desktop. 8. Navigate to C:\Users\"username"\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Virtualized\C\Users\"username"\Downloads ("username" is your account). 9. Does the downloaded file exist in this folder? Hope it helps.

Hi, I am having the same problem.I installed the new version of mozilla firefox yesturday and since then I have been unable to download files from the internet. I uninstalled the program and reinstalled it and this has made no difference; in fact it now does not respond at all so i removed it again. I have followed all the trouble shooting steps that you have suppplied and this has had no effect. Is there anything else I can try?

Hi Ciaran, Is the issue only happens on Firefox? If the issue happens on IE too, the issue mostly can be result by Firefox modifies some settings/files. You can test this issue in Safe Mode first. Safe Mode with Networking ================================= 1. Restart the computer. 2. Keep pressing the F8 key until the Windows Startup menu appears. 3. Choose Safe Mode with Networking, and press Enter. 4. Test this issue in Safe Mode. Hope it helps.

Hi - I have not seen an answer to this, and I now have the same (or very similar) problem. In Firefox, I cannot get images ("Save Image As") or program downloads. The downloads appear to work ok, but there is no sign of the requested file in either the requsted folder, or anywhere on the system. They show in the "Downloads" box, but with the default icon rather than their own, and the "Open" and other options are greyed. In IE, I can save images OK, but program downloads disappear. The download appears to work Ok, I get the "Copying To" box, but then the file disappears. It is not in the "Temporary Internet" folder, or anywhere else. I am running Vista, with all current updates, the latest IE8 & Firefox. - Updates work OK. I tried all the above, Safe Mode, and with all services disabled. No change! Help Please!