Hi, Daggoth.
I don't know which "forum" you posted to, but that forum simply relayed your
post, via the "vBulletin USENET gateway" to this newsgroup on the Microsoft
public news server (Usenet), where I am reading it, along with a half-dozen
replies so far. You could "cut out the middleman" and post here directly
simply by clicking here:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....vista.general
As to your actual problem: There are at least a couple of approaches that
should find your missing downloaded files.
First, just try to download the same file again. This time, watch CLOSELY
to see where IE8 proposes to save it; note both the pathname and the
downloaded filename, since the file doesn't always have the same name as the
program itself. You don't need to actually do the download again; just get
far enough to see where IE8 plans to put it. Since IE's setting for this is
persistent, it will propose to put the new download into the same location
where it put the last one. When you can read that pathname, use Windows
Explorer to look for your previously-downloaded file there.
Second, if that doesn't work, it may be time to bring out the big gun: Dir
/s /a
First, have ready at least the first few characters of the filename of the
file that you've lost; let's use "ABC*" as an example. Then Open a Command
Prompt window (Cmd.exe). At the prompt, enter:
Dir C:\abc* /s /a
Since you are "not a rookie", you probably know but, just in case:
Dir is the Directory command from MS-DOS days, before "directories" became
"folders". It lists all the files and folders in a directory. For a
"mini-Help" screen showing the commands and parameters available with it,
just type: Dir /?
The C:\ starts the directory listing in the Root of Drive C:. The "abc" is
the start of the filename; upper/lowercase doesn't matter. The "*" is a
wildcard that shows all files that start with "abc", no matter what the rest
of the filename is. The /s switch lists all files in all subfolders of the
starting directory. And the /a lists ALL files, no matter what Attributes
(Hidden, System, etc.) may have been set. If the "abc*" file is anywhere on
Drive C:, this command will list it.
If your file isn't on C:, try D:, E:, etc., of course. If a drive has just
a few large files, Dir will be quick. If the drive has thousands of files
(emails or .nws files, for example), then it can take a long time, so be
patient.
If neither of these work, please post back and tell us, step by step, what
you did and what results you saw. As you know, "tried it" doesn't tell us
much; neither does "didn't work".
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64
"Daggoth" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Hi there,
>
> I'll start by pointing out that I am by no means a rookie with
> computers. I've used and done troubleshooting on PCs for quite a while.
> Be that as it may, this issue is a new one to me and simply beyond me.
>
> Whenever I attempt to download a file via either of my internet
> browsers(IE/Firefox) the files simply vanish. I can watch the files
> download and observe the progress bar. I can even repeatedly select the
> un-finished files I'm downloading and check their properties and confirm
> the files are the same size as the progress bar indicates. However, the
> moment the download finishes, the files simply cease to exist. The icon
> vanishes from the destination directory. It does not appear in any other
> directory, and any uses of search of the entirety of the hard drive for
> the filename of the vanished file come up empty.
>
> Perhaps even less sensible, repeated attempts to download the same file
> will sometimes result and a .part portion of the file remaining present
> in the destination, but any attempt to delete the file results in an
> error message telling me the file is not present, verify the location
> and try again. Weird given that I can right click the .part and select
> delete or drag it into a recycling bin only to be told the file I just
> clicked isn't there.
>
> And a last note on the issue, is that I have managed to 'trick' the
> problem with a large file download on firefox by downloading it
> repeatedly and attempting to open a previous vanished download of the
> same file in the same destination as the current download reaches about
> a half-second from completion itself. Can't really explain how I am able
> to pull that one off.
>
> I've run virus scans, defrags, scandisk, scannow - none have been able
> to resolve the issue. I have disengaged virus protections, firewalls,
> security settings, and (re)activated them as well - also to no effect. I
> have used system restore to go back nearly a full week before the
> problem was noticed(and given how often to download this or that, I
> don't imagine the problem existed very long at all before I noticed it)
> - also ineffective.
>
> I have not made any changes or installed any new hardware at the time
> of this error, though I did update drivers to my monitor in between the
> time that downloads worked fine and when they 'vanish', but how that
> could have had any impact on downloads is unclear. I have all files
> unhidden, and have used the command prompt to scour the destinations for
> any trace of the files and still have found none. And this is perhaps
> the single most perplexing part of the whole problem, because checking
> of the free space and properties of my C: drive show the free space gone
> equal to the amount of the downloads, but they remain nowhere to be
> seen.
>
> Thanks for any help with this issue while I continue to scour heaven
> and hell to find where these files go!
>
>
> --
> Daggoth
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