Windows Vista Unable to download anything.

I've used multiple versions of IE and Firefox, and thus have come to the conclusion that it must be Vista somehow, as XP has never had this problem.

What happens is when I try to download a file, it claims the file is downloading. However, when I right-click on the file in the "Downloads" window once it's finished, the options "Open" and "Open containing folder" are both grey and inaccessible. I started saving things to specific locations where I knew exactly where they would be, and they do not show up in that folder.

I have at one point actually downloaded a file to a specific folder and then went to that folder while it was downloading to see the file there. However once the file finished downloading, the file disappeared.

When downloading .torrents, I get an error, something about being unable to save something in C:\User\Owners\AppData\Roaming... so it's not just files I download seperately.

Does anyone know what's wrong? And is it a problem with Vista, or should I post it somewhere else?

 

I had some similar problems. One of my drives was re-assigned to a different call letter, causing default directories to become invalid. Here's what you can do if this is the case.

In Firefox: go to tools>options>main and check the default download folder, even if you use [ask me where to save files], make sure the folder is valid and pointing to say your download folder.

Same with bit torrent (depending on your client): preferences>directories check your default folders to make sure they are valid. These are the folders where you want the torrents to be stored. Use different folders for temp and completed. tip: use the same pair of folders for the .torrent files. This comes in handy to load the trackers again.

Hope this helps.

You may also have to change some of your shortcuts.