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Why do all my downloads "fail"?

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I when I click on a file in Firefox, nothing happens and when I look in my downloads folder, the files say file. I was able to download files yesterday and I don't think I did anything to the settings. It happens with both files that are emailed to me and files on websites. I have tried everything in the Cannot Download or Save Files article so please don't post a link to that. Nothing worked, not even a reset. I would try scanning my computer for malware, but I CAN'T DOWNLOAD ANYTHING. I'm pretty sure this is a problem with Firefox since I am able to download and save files in Safari. I would just use another browser, but all my passwords, bookmarks, etc. are saved in Firefox. This is a very frustrating problem since people send me numerous files everyday that I have no way of viewing!

I when I click on a file in Firefox, nothing happens and when I look in my downloads folder, the files say file. I was able to download files yesterday and I don't think I did anything to the settings. It happens with both files that are emailed to me and files on websites. I have tried everything in the Cannot Download or Save Files article so please don't post a link to that. Nothing worked, not even a reset. I would try scanning my computer for malware, but I CAN'T DOWNLOAD ANYTHING. I'm pretty sure this is a problem with Firefox since I am able to download and save files in Safari. I would just use another browser, but all my passwords, bookmarks, etc. are saved in Firefox. This is a very frustrating problem since people send me numerous files everyday that I have no way of viewing!

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In order to fix the problem, try disabling the scanning as follows:

  1. In the Location bar, type about:config and press Enter. The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear.
  2. Click I'll be careful, I promise!, to continue to the about:config page. A list of settings should appear
  3. Filter the list by typing in the search bar at the top. Type in scanWhenDone. You should now find the browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone preference.
  4. Double-click on that preference to set the value to false.
  5. Next, try to download something and see if it still hangs.

Please reply and tell us whether this helped you!

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