This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Attempt to download an EXE file is first cancelled (without my consent), then, after restarting the downloaded file fails to appear on my computer.

more options

Just installed FF v.5 on Win XP. Now I am unable to download exe files. I have worked through suggestions on a FF-help page entitled "Unable to download or save files".

I have turned off my firewall with no success. I use ESET NOD32 and SpyBot. I AM able to download image files (and I assume other types as well).

I can download exe files with Chrome without difficulty.

Just installed FF v.5 on Win XP. Now I am unable to download exe files. I have worked through suggestions on a FF-help page entitled "Unable to download or save files". I have turned off my firewall with no success. I use ESET NOD32 and SpyBot. I AM able to download image files (and I assume other types as well). I can download exe files with Chrome without difficulty.

All Replies (2)

more options

Does this issue happen in safe mode?

more options

Yes it happens in Safe Mode also. And, again, this only starting happening recently and doesn't appear to be correlated with any system change that I am aware of.

However, I found a solution on a rather old article. It seems that the problem is corrected by setting to "false" the following item in the about:config.

browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone

The kb article where I found the answer is at: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone

I still don't know why the "virus scan" and/or application of the "Windows security policy checks" causes this problem. However, I have now observed that the file appears while being downloaded. And, then, immediately after download, the file is removed - no idea what is triggering this deletion.

Thank you for your help.

Edeziri site na moffatbrian