Firefox blocks downloads
FF36 still will not download any files on my laptop. Once in a blue moon if I double click on the file in the download box it will start and finish but usually the DL fails. It doesn't matter the type (pdf, xls, doc, zip, etc.) nor the site (Mozilla, Google Chrome, my home network, https, anywhere). It also continually displays the FF crashed dialogue box when I shut down it down. I took the extreme measure of completely removing FF35 Ultimate Uninstaller Pro, running ccleaner, spybot, malware bytes, and Norton. I then downloaded FF from the Mozilla site using (ugh) Chrome and installed FF36. One file worked, then nothing. One file is also permanently marked as paused and telling FF to clear all downloads doesn't work. The desktop version works just fine. What gives? The desktop and laptop are running the same Win 7 Home Pro SP1, same antivirus, same antimalware, same everything.
All Replies (19)
Where are you downloading your files? Sometimes, if you try to download files to a protected folder, it will be blocked.
You can refresh Firefox as a last resort.
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Do you have an antivirus? Antiviruses could block downloads.
Just-A-User said
Where are you downloading your files? Sometimes, if you try to download files to a protected folder, it will be blocked.
To the super double secret ultra protected folder "users/****/downloads. The SAME folder as on my desktop.
Just-A-User said
You can refresh Firefox as a last resort.
I totally deleted, cleaned, sanitized, and made a sacrifice to the Firefox gawds and then loaded a completely new version. Same problem.
Just-A-User said
Do you have an antivirus? Antiviruses could block downloads.
Norton Internet Security on both desktop and laptop with no changes in any of the settings.
So you've refreshed Firefox, and still no effect. By what you just said, did you mean that you also did a clean reinstall? If you didn't, try reinstalling now (follow these instructions specifically):
Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:
Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.
- Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
- After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu
and click the close button 
).
- Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
- Windows:
- C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
- Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
- Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
- Windows:
- Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
- Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
- Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.
More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.
WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.
Please report back to say if this helped you!
Thank you.
Also, make sure that you're not running in compatibility mode. Right click the icon of Firefox that you normally use to start it, click Properties, click the Compatibility tab in the Properties dialog, make sure nothing is checked in that tab, and click OK.
Norton should not block downloads.
This can actually be an issue of a bad internet connection, too. Will files download in any other browsers, example Internet Explorer?
Just-a-user...I'm not sure you read my original post. I've done everything you've suggested. FF works fine on my desktop (usually) but not on my laptop.
You weren't very specific in your OP. Can you please try everything I recommended? For example, I suggested to do a clean reinstall of Firefox, and although you used the force-uninstaller to remove Firefox, that program is unofficial and could've left some files behind.
If you've really tried everything, then there's no reason for me to help you.
Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test.
Well, user1194064, I have done everything you've suggested. FF37 is no better than FF34, 35, or 36. I tired downloading a simple,<1MB PDF file from an ohio.gov web page. Download failed. IE is trash, Chrome is too funky. Next idea?
Downloads should work. If that isn't the case then they are either blocked by security software or possible malware or there is a problem with the location or temp folder where they get saved.
So you should check all of these at least.
I installed FF34. Guess what. Downloads work. So the problem DOES lie with something that was introduced with FF35.
Nevermind. FF34 now won't download files. Phooie.
I've check internet exploiter's setting. Downloads are enabled. I've uninstalled and reinstalled FF. FF installed 37.0.1 with no problems on its own. Checked with Norton and they say NIS has no impact on downloads. So, is there any way to compare ALL Firefox settings between two different installations? I also still get the message when I close FF that FF has crashed. This is really getting frustrating.