I have a problem with downloading programs from sites such as download.com. Alos music sites. The problem has arisen since I had to reinstall my OS and programs after a HD failure. Basically if I download or choose "save target as" the save window appears briefly then disappears (a few milliseconds), and no download is saved. I have tried changing the security settings on IE7 with no success and also turning miy firewall (Norton 360) off again with no difference in behaviour.

Any ideas?

Why don't you un-install IE7 and re-install it again and if it works get Firefox and a new download manager!

IN the end this is effectively what I did. I downloaded Firefox at another location and then installed this which doesn't have the problem.