cannot download ANY executable files (W98)

[mik]

Hello, it's been awhile since I've been here. Glad to see that your site is still going strong.
I seem to be having problems being able to download any executable files from any website. I get a message saying " I'm not authorized to view this page" I have done a search on this site but haven't seen anything refering to this particular subject. I have Win98SE. I just re-installed Windows this evening but it hasn't helped any. I have other problems with JAVA ( which I have no idea what that is for ) but I had signed up for a online tutorial and wasn't able to finish a course because of Java errors ( this may or may not have anything to do with the downloading problem, just thought I'd mention it in case it would shed some light on the download problem) THank-you so much for your time. Kim

[mysterywolf]

either by design (e.g. IE,tools,internet options,security,custom level.....options in there) , or due to IE6 if you have it, or some valid security restrictions applied to you, or because of a fault, ... you seem unable to execute script e.g. java on a web page. left-click of a download link tries to execute such code for a download.
whatever the cause, you might find that right-click will give the menu option to save the file to your pc....same thing but avoiding the javascript or whatever.

[mik]

Thank-you for your reply. I do have IE6 , and we have checked all the settings, and have enabled everything. I have even looked into Zone Alarm too. There doesn't seem to be any reason why I shouldn't be able to download. We did try the right click option and tried to save the file to my pc, but we get an error message that says, " Cannot download file, the website is either unavailable or cannot be found". Thanks again for your time, Kim

[TonyKlein]

Strangely enough, this is sometimes just a Cache issue.

It can be helpful to delete your cache folders in MS-DOS, thus forcing MS to create new ones, containing brand new index.dat files, on reboot.

Start the computer in MS-DOS mode. If you're running Windows ME, that means starting up with a Boot disk.

Go to Start > Shutdown > Start the computer in MS-DOS mode.
Type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each one:

cd\
cd windows
smartdrv
deltree tempor~1
deltree history
deltree cookies

NOTE: Press Y if you are prompted to confirm any deletion

Type win (or 'exit'), or hit ctrl-alt-delete followed by clicking enter in order to return to Windows

NOTE: This is assuming the path to these folders is the default one
Is they're located elsewhere/named differently, adapt the path accordingly.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

[mik]

Thank-you for your reply, we just figured it out. It was a setting in Zone Alarm. We shut down Zone Alarm and tried to download something and was able to do it, so we went into the program and kept looking around till we found it. It is strange though, cause I didn't set those settings ( we hit the default button to put it back) we don't know enough about them to set them. Thanks again for your time. Kim