Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 3, 2011 Hash Fellow Posted September 3, 2011 Something I've noticed just in the last few days. I'll download something, saving it to my hard drive, and a day or so later it will be gone. I noticed it first with installers and thought maybe it was some sort of automatic self-deletion activity but now it's happened on an installer I hadn't gotten around to running yet (Firefox 6). And last night i downloaded kwhitaker's latest clip thinking I would watch it later, but it's gone too. These files will still appear in Firefox's "Downloads" list but the "Open containing folder" option is grayed out. I have Norton and i doesn't report any virus presence. So where are these files going? Quote
Admin Rodney Posted September 3, 2011 Admin Posted September 3, 2011 Missing files have been a common occurrence for me since upgrading to Windows Vista. A large part of that is due to me having problems with how the OS is setup for file management (and I think the current search method is terrible). The rest of it is due to my general disorganization. I have so many different places to store files I no longer can find anything. I haven't noticed anything in particular about files missing while downloading to the downloads folder via Chrome or IE. I don't often use Firefox but don't recall having any problems there either. Sigh... sometimes I'm half tempted to just keep everything in the same directory. Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 3, 2011 Author Hash Fellow Posted September 3, 2011 Just in the time since I posted this I downloaded the Firefox 6 installer again... and it's already disappeared! Quote
NancyGormezano Posted September 3, 2011 Posted September 3, 2011 Just in the time since I posted this I downloaded the Firefox 6 installer again... and it's already disappeared! Crazyness. Don't really know what to suggest. HD full? HD failing? Downloading to a folder with too many files? Do you download to same folder everytime? I have a special folder that I created where I put everything. I don't use the standard whatever it is "documents" default folder. I have my tools/options/general setting to "always ask me where to save". Can you see the file right after it's downloaded in the "correct" folder? And then it disappears? Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 3, 2011 Author Hash Fellow Posted September 3, 2011 Crazyness. Don't really know what to suggest. HD full? it's got 188 GB free out of 400. HD failing? that's my guess but I'd think it would be more general failures than this one thing. Downloading to a folder with too many files? What is too many? Do you download to same folder everytime? Installers typically go to my "installers" folder. Things I'll toss out soon go to my desktop. I have my tools/options/general setting to "always ask me where to save". Me too. Can you see the file right after it's downloaded in the "correct" folder? And then it disappears? Yup. Yup. It's like if I stop looking at it it disappears. I tried downloading the Firefox installer again, this time to my desktop and rebooted and it was still there. Then i copied it to my Installers folder and it is still there... so far. Quote
NancyGormezano Posted September 3, 2011 Posted September 3, 2011 (edited) Downloading to a folder with too many files? What is too many? There must be a limit, but I don't know what it might be. I do know that if I have a folder with alotta lotta lotta files, that I have experienced slow downs, funnies (like in display, counting of # of files). But I'm running xp pro 32 bit. Don't know about win7. The file system is still the same I would believe? EDIT: Maybe your HD is too fragmented? Edited September 3, 2011 by NancyGormezano Quote
johnl3d Posted September 3, 2011 Posted September 3, 2011 I have all downloads go to a particular folder and do not remember loosing any : it is not on my c: drive to keep that cleaner Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 4, 2011 Author Hash Fellow Posted September 4, 2011 It's Firefox somehow. When I quite Firefox, the file is deleted. I can't find any setting that would do this, however. You can see it happening here. FireFoxDeleteB.mov Quote
NancyGormezano Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 I noticed it first with installers and thought maybe it was some sort of automatic self-deletion activity but now it's happened on an installer I hadn't gotten around to running yet (Firefox 6). And last night i downloaded kwhitaker's latest clip thinking I would watch it later, but it's gone too. Does it also happen with downloading any ol' mov file (you said it happened with kwhitaker's)? Try a small one from the forum, John usually has small mov files. Maybe this FF version installer doesn't really want you to save it first? http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Softwa...Update%20Failed FF 6? I'm still running FF 3.6.3. ...uh...I'm slow. Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 4, 2011 Author Hash Fellow Posted September 4, 2011 Does it also happen with downloading any ol' mov file (you said it happened with kwhitaker's)? Try a small one from the forum, John usually has small mov files. I just tried it on the JPG in her thread and it vanished as soon as I closed FF. FF 6? I'm still running FF 3.6.3. ...uh...I'm slow. I have 3.6.21 and when I "check for updates it says there are none available. Quote
johnl3d Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 here is how I save my downloads here is where you could decide to save download history maybe tha'ts how there are getting erases Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 4, 2011 Author Hash Fellow Posted September 4, 2011 I do have "remember download history" on, and the download list does show everything I downloaded, but the actual file disappears when i close FF. Quote
NancyGormezano Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 I do have "remember download history" on, and the download list does show everything I downloaded, but the actual file disappears when i close FF. here's my download option settings. Your file system window looks different to me in win 7 than it looks in xp pro, so I'm shooting in the dark of course - but could the files actually be downloading into your podcast folder? The unspecified header is confusing to me as well (not like xp pro). When did this start happening? What was the last thing that you downloaded sucessfully? What happened in between? Norton may be kicking in? Have you tried malwarebytes? Could you be logged in under something other than administrator, or under another user name on your system? Quote
largento Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 A bit of Googling turned up this thread which seems to have solutions for the problem. Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 4, 2011 Author Hash Fellow Posted September 4, 2011 A bit of Googling turned up this thread which seems to have solutions for the problem. Thanks! The tip to turn off Norton's MS Office Auto Scan fixes the problem. Very odd, as Disabling Norton itself didn't fix it. Quote
johnl3d Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 Norton does strange things have people downloading norton removal tool to use after uninstall to take care of issues with whats left behind Quote
Phil Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 Something I've noticed just in the last few days. I'll download something, saving it to my hard drive, and a day or so later it will be gone. I noticed it first with installers and thought maybe it was some sort of automatic self-deletion activity but now it's happened on an installer I hadn't gotten around to running yet (Firefox 6). And last night i downloaded kwhitaker's latest clip thinking I would watch it later, but it's gone too. These files will still appear in Firefox's "Downloads" list but the "Open containing folder" option is grayed out. I have Norton and i doesn't report any virus presence. So where are these files going? Norton took afew of my files thinking they were suspicious. I found them in my quarantine Quote
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