I also tried changing the settings to "always ask where to save downloads" It had no effect

If i type a file url directly into the address bar (eg: http://dmitry.gr/images/vmu.zip) i get a blank tab and no download options as I normally would

settings

Just so that you know, making multiple posts on the same question without any other responding could give the impression that you are being helped by someone.

Next time, just post one question and wait for a response.

As to the problem, is this on many websites, some, a few?

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

All websites. every single one. and like I said above - safe mode does work, but normal mode does not

A post was flagged as Solved Problem. If the problem is not solved, please remove that flag. If you don’t, others that can help may not read this post.

Go to that message, and use the Undo link to its right.

It could be the work of one of your add-ons, or it could be Hardware Acceleration. How to disable Hardware Acceleration {web link}

Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open your Add-ons Manager. Hot key; <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> A)

In the Add-ons Manager, on the left, select Extensions. Disable a few add-ons, then Restart Firefox.

Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All Of them.

If the problem continues, disable some more (restarting FF). Continue until the problem is gone. After, you know what group is causing the issue. Re-enable the last group ONE AT A TIME (restarting FF) until the problem returns.

Once you think you found the problem, disable that and re-enable all the others, then restart again. Let us know who the suspect is, detective.

This download manager works separately from the browser. The browser tells it what to download, and off it goes.

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org It is a powerful modern download accelerator and organizer for Windows and Mac.

Did you read my original post at all? :( I did disable add ons and it still does not work

this is NOT solved

FredMcD said

or it could be Hardware Acceleration.

1. I do not see how hardware acceleration could affect downloading files (I work in software, not in farming). But for the sake of argument, i disabled it and as expected It had no effect. It is clearly some setting that went wonky.

dmitrygr said

this is NOT solved

FredMcD said

A post was flagged as Solved Problem.

Note that Firefox no longer uses mimeTypes.rdf, but uses handlers.json.

You can try to rename prefs.js (prefs.js.sav) to see if that has effect to reset all preferences. If this didn't work then undo/reverse the rename and restore the previously used prefs.js.

deleting prefs.js did not help, ditto for handlers.json

I got it to work. I just started deleting various caches and other non-state-related things in the profile dir and it seems o have worked what was deleted: sessionstore-backupss, storage, weave, webapps, all folders with "dumps" or "telemetry" in their name

That was very good work. Well done.