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Downloads keep failing

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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My downloads randomly fail. I download three things and one fails, and another time they all download fine. This happens on many different websites, I don't think it matters where. Size doesn't seem to matter either, unless I just haven't payed attention to see that it's always the big ones failing.

I just download something, see that the download arrow is filled up blue to show it's done, close Firefox and where I downloaded it there's just a .part file. I open Firefox and in the download list it says it failed. Shouldn't an error message come up if it fails? That should be added if it isn't.

Sometimes clicking the Retry button works after the first or more times, other times I have to re-download it from the same website and it works.

My downloads randomly fail. I download three things and one fails, and another time they all download fine. This happens on many different websites, I don't think it matters where. Size doesn't seem to matter either, unless I just haven't payed attention to see that it's always the big ones failing. I just download something, see that the download arrow is filled up blue to show it's done, close Firefox and where I downloaded it there's just a .part file. I open Firefox and in the download list it says it failed. Shouldn't an error message come up if it fails? That should be added if it isn't. Sometimes clicking the Retry button works after the first or more times, other times I have to re-download it from the same website and it works.

All Replies (5)

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac Options)
key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?

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Well if it's an intermittent problem, what if it happens to work fine while I'm in safe mode? Should I just try always opening Firefox in safe mode when I download something for a while and see if it still happens?

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Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes). If the problem goes away, that tells us one thing. If it does not, that tells us something else.


Go to the Mozilla Add-ons Web Page {web link} (There’s a lot of good stuff here) and search for a download manager.

There are some that work outside of Firefox.

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Sorry for the delay..

It still does it in Safe Mode, it also recently did it on my laptop with Firefox, too. The only add on I have on my laptop is Ad Block Plus, and the main one with the problem has ABP and a Youtube Flash forcing plug-in.

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What security software do you have?

It is possible that Anti-Virus software is causing problems. Try to disable Anti-Virus software temporarily to see if that makes a difference.