Vista - Files downloading - Not showing up??

I have tried to download programs (such as a ringtone maker) and also music
and I am able to download them, or so I thought ...but once the download box
goes away the file is not on my computer and I am not prompted to do anything
else. The box pops up that says would you like to run or save this program,
and I have tried both neither seem to work.I have not had a problem with this
in the past, so I'm not sure what has changed...any suggestions? This is
driving me crazy!!!

Amber

This may happen when you download files to a restricted folder on your
computer such as the root of C:\,
C:\program files\, or C:\Windows.


To see these files, open Windows Explorer and go to the folder where you
downloaded the files. Click the "Show compatability files" in the toolbar.

You should only download files to folders that you created or are inside
your user folder such as Downloads or Documents.

If you want to put a file you downloaded inside a security-restricted
folder, you should first download it to one of your user folders and then
move it to the restricted folder, this will prompt you for permission and
then succeed.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Amber" <Amber@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:69EFAA42-CB0F-4752-951C-D9948E6A4BC7@xxxxxx

Yes, I too just had to fix this for my daughter who was downloading an MP3
from an official band website and the "save as" dialog showed previously
downloaded files and folders but when browsing separately from Windows
Explorer they were missing. She was saving them to the C:\Program
Files\itunes folder. What I did to correct it was from the "save as" dialog,
selected the folders one at a time (she had created to save the mp3 files
into) and used the right-click menu choice to "send to" the Documents
folder. After that copied her mp3 folders (I made sure first they actually
made it to the Documents folder) then I was able to delete these "hide and
seek" folders from the "save as" dialog box.

Although I was able to recover her files so they where no longer hidden from
Windows Explorer, I am still curious about this behavior and why they appear
hidden. I did try the "show compatibility" option but that didn't show all
the folders there. I understand the security-restricted folder thing and
I've always used the Downloads folder anyways. Just puzzled on the mechanics
of this behavior and how it works.... Interesting.

Steve (MVP wannabe)

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" <rv@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4D0D12B9-E257-46B3-81A5-FEF72ED9977C@xxxxxx

I'm having a similar issue with not being able to locate a HUGE file I
downloaded from Adobe. I've downloaded the file to my "downloads" folder but
it isn't there--isn't visible. Clearly, from the smaller amount of free
space on my drive, the file exists somewhere, but I don't know where.

I'm confused by your answer. What is the "show compatability files" option
in the toolbar. I see no such option to choose. Where should I be looking?

Thanks,
Miles

"Steve Mavronis" wrote:

Hi, Miles - and Amber.

The simplest trick might be to simply start to download the "missing" file
again. This time, pay close attention when it asks WHERE you want it to go,
or where Vista plans to put it by default. You don’t have to actually
download it again; just get far enough to see the intended destination,
write that down, and then abort the download.

If that doesn't work, then try the old faithful Dir command in an
Administrator:Command Prompt window. Go to All Programs | Accessories and
right-click on Command Prompt, then Run as Administrator. In the CP window,
type:
dir c:\<filename> /s/a

That is, start with the command "Dir" (from back in the days before
directories became folders), which produces a listing of files (much like
the Details view in Windows Explorer). The C:\ says to start in the Root of
Drive C:. The <filename> is the name of the file you are looking for; this
can be the full name or just a partial name plus wildcards. The /s switch
says to list files in both the current folder and all subfolders; since you
are starting in the Root, this will look in all folders on Drive C:. And
the /a switch will list All files, even those with Hidden or System
attributes set. If you have a lot of files on the drive, this can take a
while, but probably less than a minute.

This filename can be broad (dir x* will find all files starting with the
letter x) or as narrow as you want, right down to the exact filename. Or it
can search for all .pdf files: dir *.pdf. It can even use partial
filenames: dir \*ow*oa* should find the "download" folder.

If you have multiple drives, you might need to run the command for each of
them. Or you can narrow down the listing by either specifying the location
in the command (dir c:\download\<filename> /s/a) or by navigating to the
parent folder before running the command.

Let us know what you learn from this. Other users can benefit from your
experience.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta 2 in Vista Ultimate x64)

"Miles Emerson" <MilesEmerson@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1DB6774E-2427-41AA-BA06-66D9E40249DB@xxxxxx

R.C.
I've tried the download to find where the file belongs. It's supposed to
be under "downloads" in a folder named "Adobe" but it isn't there. I've
tried the download three times and each time it claims to save it there
first. After the first attempt, it informed me that the file already existed
and offered to place the file in another folder--which it did but failed to
tell me what that folder was. It's possible I have two or three copies of
this monster on my system somewhere and it's simply hidden from me by Vista's
"security" features.
The search suggestion sounds promising. I'll give it a try and let you
know. As always, I appreciate the time and the advice.
Miles

R.C.
Your search option using the command prompt works great--but I still can't
get to the file! The search locates the file under my user account:
. . . \AppData\local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet . . . etc.
Problem is, when I access all of these folders I hit a dead end at "Windows"
because it does now show a "Temporary Internet" folder. Do you have any idea
what is going on?
I'm more than a little frustrated. I've actually been down this route
through "AppData" before and hit the same dead end. I've also bypassed the
roadblock and made it to the "Virtualized" folder before but that was long
ago when I first installed Vista.
Thanks for your patience, time, understanding and advice.
Miles

Hi, Miles.
No, YOU are supposed to tell VISTA where to put the file. The file
"belongs" where you tell it to go. Is that Adobe folder a top-level folder
(C:\Adobe), or a subfolder perhaps several layers deep, such as
C;\Users\Miles\Downloads\Adobe?

What program are you using to download? Good old IE7? And which "Adobe"?
Adobe corporation produces several very popular programs. I use their
Photoshop Elements and their free (Acrobat) Reader, but they have several
other products that I'm not really familiar with, such as the full Acrobat
and Photoshop, plus Creative Suite and probably others. So please be more
specific as to what kind of file it is. Are you using Adobe's own program
to download that file? Some .pdf files don't "download" in the usual way,
but simply open the Reader and display the file contents onscreen. There
are so many variables that you really need to tell us more details about
your file and about HOW you are trying to download it.

In your other post you mention looking in the Temporary Internet Files
folder. As you may have discovered, the TIF doesn't follow "normal" rules
for files. It's easy to get hopelessly lost in there! And hard to get
anything useful out of it. I recommend that you stay out of this folder.
But it's easy enough to find it; just start IE7, then click Tools | Internet
Options; click Settings under Browsing history in the middle of the General
tab, then read the Current location. But if you navigate there in that
Command Prompt window, you'll have to use Dir's /a switch to see the hidden
folders and files - and they won't look much like they do in the GUI.

But Vista's IE7 has never failed to tell me WHERE it is putting a file that
I'm downloading. Sometimes the address is so long that I can see only a
part of it, but hovering my mouse over that part reveals the entire
pathname. Usually, when I click the download link, then select Save, a
"Save As" window pops up asking where I want to save it. The default is to
the same location where I saved the previous file that I downloaded, but I
can browse to the location of my choice. This new location will be the
default destination for future downloads - until I change it again. Is this
not the way that IE7 works for you?

But IE7's download screen for an executable file has 3 buttons: Run, Save
and Cancel. If I check Run, then the file is saved to a temporary location,
from which it then runs. Afterwards, the temporary file might be deleted,
leaving only the installed program files in place. Is this what is
happening to your disappearing file?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta 2 in Vista Ultimate x64)

"Miles Emerson" <MilesEmerson@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E3A2021A-83CC-468D-8AFD-2ED5B0CDAC67@xxxxxx

Hey Miles,

Well, I'm certainly no expert, but I've been downloading music files, and
some started NOT showing up in my WMP. I was going crazy trying to figure
out WHY I had d/l them but they weren't anywhere in my player. So I did some
scouting around and found them in the USERS version of my Music folder! I am
about to post to ask how to delete the darn Users folders completely b/c all
they do is duplicate everything in your 'My folders' that are listed under
the Start Menu. I have found this to be a problem in other instances too -
like d/l a program to my Downloads folder and having it disappear, only to
show up the Users Downloads folder - so you may want to browse thru your
C:/Users/ folders to see if that is what has happened to you.

Btw, I had to actually MOVE all the darn music files that went to the Users
Music folder before WMP could play them, which is why it makes NO sense at
all for Vista to put them there by default. Now I just check EACH time I d/l
to make SURE that I am d/l to the folders in the My folders and NOT the
duplicated files in the Users folder.

Hope that helps! ;-)

Shirley

"Miles Emerson" wrote:

This is my first post. I registered to this forum just so I could answer this question. There were multiple forums with people complaining about this and no real answers.

I had the same problem. Files were downloading to an obscure folder (c/users/"owner"/appdata/roaming/microsoft/windows) that I could not find even though search was locating the file. I was trying to download to "My Documents". While I was lurking through the folders I had a pop-up window tell me my account did not have permission to change something..(i forget what it was) I thought, OK I am the Computer Admin .....why the heck can't I change anything I want??


Short story....go to Control Panel>>User Accounts>> Turn User Account Control OFF!! Now I can download any file to ANY location I want....Why the ADMIN account would be set to restrict is beyond me??(stupid default settings)