files won't download

Mike Adams

Mike Adams

Registered
My wife has an eMAc that has developed a problem. Any time she tries to download a file from the web, absolutely nothing happens. This is true for both Firefox and Safari and applies to any type of file (picture, game etc.) On the other hand, updates from Apple download fine and my laptop downloads fine when plugged into her cable modem. She is running the latest version of OS X and the start of the problem does not seem to coincide with any new software being installed.

Any ideas as to what might be the cause?

Thanks
 
Web pages are displaying properly?

Is the Mac Firewall on (Apple Menu > System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall)?
 
Did you uninstall any programs, like SpeedDownload, or any download manager?
 
Web pages look normal, nothing was recently added or removed. The problem occurs whether she clicks on a download button, or tries to manually drag a graphic onto the desktop. There is no acknowledgemnt from the machine that anything took place.
 
Open the General section of Safari's preferences and check where Safari is trying to download files to; if this folder doesn't exist or is in a folder used by the system itself, change it to a location inside your home folder, such as the desktop, or another folder you can write to, such as /Users/Shared/. If the download folder is set to one of these locations and you get that error message, click on that folder in the Finder and then choose Get Info from the File menu. Under Ownership & Permissions, verify that you have read and write access to this folder and that the folder isn't locked, changing the settings as necessary.

========================

Look in these two locations;

1-Library/Internet Plug-Ins
2-User/Library/Internet Plug-Ins

See if there is a file for any download manager.
 
Since she has the same problem with both Safari and Firefox, it seems unlikely that it is a problem within these programs. Both are set to use the default folder, and worked fine until recently.
 
Bob is correct that you should inspect the permissions of the download location and make sure that she has read/write access to that location.

You might also try downloading the most recent combo updater for Mac OS X. If you're running 10.3.x, get the 10.3.9 Combo Update. If you're on 10.4.x get the 10.4.7 Combo Update.

Install the combo package even if you already have 10.3.9 or 10.4.7 on that computer. These packages can be downloaded from http://search.info.apple.com/?search=Go&lr=lang_en&kword=&type=kbdload&newstype=&q=combo

You may have to download on a another computer then transfer over to hers since her download ability is not functioning properly.
 
The download folders have correct permissions, and I have run all of the updates. At this point, I am stumped: I may have to haul it into an Apple store to see if they have an answer

Thanks for all the suggestions
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top