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Firefox will not download files if they are to be saved rather than opened

  • 3 cavab
  • 4 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by Ed

Ed
Ed
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Firefox refuses to download files for me. When I click a download link on a web page, I get the usual dialog box asking whether I want to open the file in a local application or save it. If I choose 'save', the dialog box goes away and nothing else happens. The Firefox Downloads window remains blank. If instead I choose to open the file in the suggested application (e.g. TUGZip for .tgz files), it downloads and opens fine.

I think it may be related to this that in Tools->Options->General, the 'Save files to' entry is set to 'Downloads', but it is greyed-out and not editable, and the Browse button next to it does nothing when clicked.

I am on a Novell network, and my "My Documents" directory is on a network drive. I have tried creating a "Downloads" directory on a local drive, under both C:\Documents and Settings\User and C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents, all to no avail. I've tried reinstalling Firefox and running with a new Firefox profile, both to no avail.

I am running Sophos anti-virus, and have checked all settings in it - there is nothing that would cause this problem. I have gone into the Firefox config and tried changing, in turn, each of the the 3 boolean options that contain the string "scan" from their default of "true" to "false", to no avail.

I have no Firefox add-ons that would affect this - certainly no download managers.

If I use Internet Explorer to download files, it works without problem, so it is not a general problem on my machine.

Is there a way to get Firefox to log what it is doing when it fails to download files?

Firefox refuses to download files for me. When I click a download link on a web page, I get the usual dialog box asking whether I want to open the file in a local application or save it. If I choose 'save', the dialog box goes away and nothing else happens. The Firefox Downloads window remains blank. If instead I choose to open the file in the suggested application (e.g. TUGZip for .tgz files), it downloads and opens fine. I think it may be related to this that in Tools->Options->General, the 'Save files to' entry is set to 'Downloads', but it is greyed-out and not editable, and the Browse button next to it does nothing when clicked. I am on a Novell network, and my "My Documents" directory is on a network drive. I have tried creating a "Downloads" directory on a local drive, under both C:\Documents and Settings\User and C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents, all to no avail. I've tried reinstalling Firefox and running with a new Firefox profile, both to no avail. I am running Sophos anti-virus, and have checked all settings in it - there is nothing that would cause this problem. I have gone into the Firefox config and tried changing, in turn, each of the the 3 boolean options that contain the string "scan" from their default of "true" to "false", to no avail. I have no Firefox add-ons that would affect this - certainly no download managers. If I use Internet Explorer to download files, it works without problem, so it is not a general problem on my machine. Is there a way to get Firefox to log what it is doing when it fails to download files?

All Replies (3)

ideato
ideato
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For first step Clear the download history

if this does not solve the problem try the next steps in the above link.


thank you

Please mark "Solved" the answer that really solve the problem, to help others with a similar problem.

Ed
Ed Question owner
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Thanks for your suggestion. I had previously tried that step and all other the steps on that page that were applicable and that would work. Still at square one unfortunately.

Ed
Ed Question owner
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Deafening silence. Perhaps I need to rephrase the question:

Firefox is failing on a basic task (downloading). There are no clues as to why, so we need to get Firefox to tell us (more). How can we get Firefox to log its behaviour when downloading?

I am sure this cannot be a difficult question for Firefox developers ;-)