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How do I restore the ability to download files & documents?

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  • 3 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Matt_G

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Late last week I noticed I had accumulated a huge number of cookies. I decided to clear both cookies and history by selecting "Clear history when Firefox closes". I cleared cookies then closed Firefox. Firefox began closing but quit responding before closing finished. I forced Firefox to close (Mac OS X 10.6.8) then restarted Firefox which still failed to respond. I unchecked "Clear history when Firefox closes" and Firefox resumed normal operation except I am now unable to download files and documents from any web site. I tried a different browser (Safari 5.1.5) and downloads are normal.

Any help greatly appreciated.

-Joe

Late last week I noticed I had accumulated a huge number of cookies. I decided to clear both cookies and history by selecting "Clear history when Firefox closes". I cleared cookies then closed Firefox. Firefox began closing but quit responding before closing finished. I forced Firefox to close (Mac OS X 10.6.8) then restarted Firefox which still failed to respond. I unchecked "Clear history when Firefox closes" and Firefox resumed normal operation except I am now unable to download files and documents from any web site. I tried a different browser (Safari 5.1.5) and downloads are normal. Any help greatly appreciated. -Joe

Chosen solution

cor-el,

The problem I had was with a plug-in I received in the most recent Adobe Reader update which I installed about the same time my problem began. Thought you might like to know.

-Joe

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Hey JoeAldrich,

Have you looked at the What to do if you can't download or save files Knowledge Base article? That is probably a good place to start.

If that doesn't do it, I'd try walking through the steps in the Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems guide.

Hopefully this helps!

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Try to delete the associated files in the Firefox profile folder in case some got corrupted.

  • cookies.sqlite for the cookies.
  • downloads.sqlite for the downloads.

Also remove the sqlite-journal files if present.

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Deleting both the cookies.sqlite and the downloads.sqlite files did not clear the problem or affect it in any way. Since I could find the sqlite-journal files they apparently were not there.

Any other ideas? Re-install and update Firefox? I have a downloaded copy of Firefox 7.0.1

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Today I did a clean uninstall of Firefox 11 then reinstalled Firefox 11 from a new download. Since it is highly unlikely that any damaged files survived this process I must conclude that I am dealing with a problem in my OS rather than a Firefox problem.

I thank the 2 people who responded to my request for help.

-Joe

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You're welcome.

Which security software (firewall, anti-virus) do you have?

Did you check that your security software isn't blocking the downloads?

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cor-el,

My ISP provides excellent anti-virus and junk mail filtering and, at the same time, I haven't missed receiving anything I have wanted to receive.

I use the Junk mail filter that is part of MAC OS X Mail. My firewall is part of MAC OS X System and all of these settings seem to be normal. I also have posted an inquiry at the Apple Discussions Support Group.

Again, many thanks for your responses.

-Joe

Modified by JoeAldrich

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Chosen Solution

cor-el,

The problem I had was with a plug-in I received in the most recent Adobe Reader update which I installed about the same time my problem began. Thought you might like to know.

-Joe

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Hi JoeAldrich,

Glad to hear you got it sorted out! It was a plug-in issue huh? One of the links in the article I sent you has you start FF in safe mode. It's buried in there pretty deep though ;) Please make this thread as solved if you get a chance. It helps us to keep things in order.