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How do i stop firefox from blocking my taskbar when downloading?

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Every time I download anything using Firefox, the downloads dialogue box blocks use of both my popup taskbar or the side to side scroll bar making me clear the downloads list EVERY TIME I do a download. I hate that the previous version of Firefox did this, and see that no one has bothered to fix this annoying glitch in the new version. It's maddening trying to save large pics as you can't see them until you clear the downloads list.

Every time I download anything using Firefox, the downloads dialogue box blocks use of both my popup taskbar or the side to side scroll bar making me clear the downloads list EVERY TIME I do a download. I hate that the previous version of Firefox did this, and see that no one has bothered to fix this annoying glitch in the new version. It's maddening trying to save large pics as you can't see them until you clear the downloads list.

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The downloads manager is a regular dialog box, unlike the door hanger variety, so you can put it wherever you want it. You can resize it, and the resizing should stick on subsequent usage. You can toggle it on or off anytime with "Ctrl+J", and you have some control when it appears automatically or closes automatically.

Tools > Options > General > (Downloads section)...

If you are still using the "Firefox" button introduced in Firefox 4 "Firefox" button > Options (2nd column) > Options > (Downloads section)...

Mine is set as follows [x] Show the Downloads window when downloading a file

     [_] Close it when all downloads are finished

I'm on high speed access so if I download something, I'm probably waiting for it so don't mind the window.

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That's not what I mean. It's not physically blocking my access. The dialogue box is way at the top of the page. It's just that any time there's an "uncleared" item I've downloaded, I can't get my taskbar to pop up from auto-hide and I can't get to the the scroll bar. I'm not a hacker, so I don't know how to describe it. The popup just "locks" my browser until I clear everything I've downloaded. I don't want to disable it as I use it to put downloads where i want them or even create new folders to save things in.

I don't see WHY it should "freeze" my taskbar or any scroll bars that might be on a page. It's like a "browser hijack" effect. I WOULD disable it if I didn't need it to save everything in a different place.