hello KNRover, i'm not aware of any download-blocking mechanism in firefox. what is the exact wording of the error message that you're receiving? or maybe you can also provide a screenshot that would make it easier to know what's going on...
thank you!

I haven't noticed that. Could you post a screen shot of the page or pop-up you see requiring you to approve the download? This article has tips on that: How do I create a screenshot of my problem?

If you have extensions that affect downloading or security, perhaps this feature was added by one of those after it updated? You could test downloading in Firefox's Safe Mode. That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Use Troubleshoot Mode in Firefox.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Any difference?

It's not an "error" message. It's more or less the same as you get with IE, where you have to click "Download file" to get past IE's block. In FF, I'm getting the same drop-down line saying something like "Firefox has blocked the download to protect your computer" or something similar, and at the far right of that line is an "Allow" button. I click it and the file downloads.

One of the reasons FF is my default browser is that I down want to contend with IE's "download approval" line. I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING and don't want to be required to confirm that I know what I'm doing.

The next time that line/wide box appears, I'll do a screenshot.

as far as i know there is only a warning on .exe files that you can turn off like this: enter about:config into the firefox address bar (confirm the info message in case it shows up) & search for the preference named browser.download.manager.alertOnEXEOpen. double-click it and change its value to false.

Honestly, I have never seen that in Firefox.

If this occurs in a "Fire IE" tab, of course, you are using IE in that tab and IE will behave like itself.

That's the code I was looking for but could not find. It does not exist in my version of FF (ver. 25).

ups, sorry this seems to have been removed a while ago with the new download manager interface. you can also try setting browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone to false...

OK. I set it to "false". Based on the name, it doesn't sound like it would control the pop-up line, but we'll see. I won't know until I have another download.

the line also controls if a file is flagged as being "downloaded from the internet" which might prompt your operating system to show warning messages before such files are executed...

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone

OK. . . we'll see if it solves the problem. If it has, I may not respond back here for several weeks. Don't download stuff every day and have to try several downloads to see if it recurs.

Many thanks for the help.