Can't Open Files I've Downloaded

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karen45

Member
This is a new problem that has cropped up. Whenever I download a file to my computer, I am unable to open it up to run or install it. I have the problem with .zip files, .PDF files, .exe files, etc. I see the download occurring, and it all seems to be going fine, but when it is done, it is not on my desktop where I have my files saved, and when I right-click on the file in the Download box (where it shows the status of the download), the option to open the file is faded and won't work. What could have happened to my settings to make this happen? Does it mean I have a virus? I have AVG virus protection and it is up to date.

I have a second computer (laptop) that is running Windows 7. I have no problem saving files to that computer, so I can copy them to my Flash drive and move them to the desktop computer, but I'm sunk when I try to get a program like Adobe Acrobat Reader that downloads and installs in one operation..... I can't save the program to bring to the desktop computer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Karen
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion dv5t (Gen. 1)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz)
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
    Graphics card(s)
    512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
    Mouse
    built in - Synaptics TouchPad V6.5 on PS/2 Port
    Keyboard
    built in - HP
    Internet Speed
    max
    Other Info
    ~ Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card w/Bluetooth ~ Blu-Ray ROM DVD+/-R/RW ~ Integ. HDTV Hybrid Tuner ~ 12 Cell Battery ~ MS Office (Home Premium) 2007 ~
I've run the malwarebytes.... no infections. I've run my anti-virus.... no viruses. I've run my spyware program..... just low-level cookies..... cleaned those. I've done a system restore. Now I can't even open my Firefox browser... am using IE now.

I don't know what else to do.

Karen
 

My Computer

System One

Dont panic we will get this sorted out
Try an sfc command
If negative just report
If errors are found run 3 or 4 times more and then report
System Files - SFC Command

If the above do not work, lets try to diagnose with a clean boot
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

If that does not work, uninstall the problem browser and then reinstall if you really prefer it over IE.

It is possible that all these problems are related to FF.
The initial post may be FF related.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Did the SFC scan.... did the clean boot and followed the instructions.... same thing happened no matter what programs were selected or unselected to run. I really don't think it's Firefox's fault, since I can't get any file to open after downloading with IE either. I've tried both .pdf and .exe files. I just can't think of what I could have done to make this happen. I haven't put any new programs on the computer recently. It seems as though it should be a setting I may have chosen somewhere? But I can't imagine what it is, because I would never ask to not have my downloads accessible! I've tried running as the administrator, and the same things happen. I'm bamboozled. I think I need an Apple computer!

Karen
 

My Computer

System One

Look at my first post, did you try the associations?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I went to the link to the file associations, clicked on the .exe, .pdf, and .zip file extensions, since those are ones I know I can't download, and since I can't download .zip files, I used the little laptop and downloaded to my flash drive. When I moved them to the desktop computer and extracted the files, the file folder they were extracted to shows up as empty. I see no .reg file, as referenced in the instructions.

Karen
 

My Computer

System One

Do things work in safe mode?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
No. Same problems in safe mode. Could this be just the beginning of the end of this computer? Should I do a full restore to its original factory settings? I can do a full backup to an external drive. Would I be able to restore those files easily after a full restore?

Karen
 

My Computer

System One

If you are backing up properly you can do a restore. A restore is easy for documents pics etc. Programs, you will need a key and the CD or if downloaded, you need to download.
Do this first.
Boot the computer tell be about the beeps
3 long
2 short 2 long
etc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Actually thats good
The number of beeps tell us about hardware problems; no beeps means the problem is probably with the software.
Bottom line if you reinstall it should all be good again.
Wth an install dvd we can try a repair install, interested?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I noticed that you have AVG. Have you(or AVG itself) recently upgraded to the latest version?

Before giving up completely, it might be worth completely disabling avg, then trying to download something to see if there's any change.

I don't think it is a high percentage possibility that this would work, but it's one of the easy tests to at least rule out that AVG as a problem.
I used avg for a few years, ran into a few problems with it, so it wouldn't actually be surprising if it was causing an issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built( I will never "buy" a PC)
    CPU
    AMD Phenom2 XII 560
    Motherboard
    Biostar A780L3L
    Memory
    4GB DDR3-1333
    Graphics card(s)
    xfx 9800 GT
    Sound Card
    Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB
    Cooling
    2 front, 2 back,one side
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless LX310
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless
    Internet Speed
    18/2 cable
    Other Info
    Opera/Chrome / EPSON Stylus nx420 / Microsoft Security Essentials / CCleaner / Malwarebytes / OpenDNS / Paint.NET / 7-Zip / Windows Live Mail Client
No a repair install just does repairs. It is not an new install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I'll try that.

MWRed said:
I noticed that you have AVG. Have you(or AVG itself) recently upgraded to the latest version?

Before giving up completely, it might be worth completely disabling avg, then trying to download something to see if there's any change.

I don't think it is a high percentage possibility that this would work, but it's one of the easy tests to at least rule out that AVG as a problem.
I used avg for a few years, ran into a few problems with it, so it wouldn't actually be surprising if it was causing an issue.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

Do you have the Vista install DVD?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
karen45 said:
With AVG disabled, same problems. Where do I get a repair DVD??
Click to expand...

Well, it was worth a try anyway.

What rich is suggesting is probably the most effective way of fixing your problem. He should be able to get you all fixed up. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built( I will never "buy" a PC)
    CPU
    AMD Phenom2 XII 560
    Motherboard
    Biostar A780L3L
    Memory
    4GB DDR3-1333
    Graphics card(s)
    xfx 9800 GT
    Sound Card
    Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB
    Cooling
    2 front, 2 back,one side
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless LX310
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless
    Internet Speed
    18/2 cable
    Other Info
    Opera/Chrome / EPSON Stylus nx420 / Microsoft Security Essentials / CCleaner / Malwarebytes / OpenDNS / Paint.NET / 7-Zip / Windows Live Mail Client
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