Can Not Download from download.microsoft.com

In the past few days I've tried to download several things from the Microsoft site, and I get this error msg:
"Unable to download "***.exe" from download.Microsoft.com
The connection with the server was reset"

I'm using Windows HP 7 64bit, Intel i3 quad processor at 3.3Ghz, 4MB DDR3 RAM, and a 1TB HD.
I have been able to download programs and trials from other sites, so I can't understand why I can't download anything from the Microsoft site. I did recently have a Win32 Reg Hijacker, but Eset online scan says they took care of that, and all seems to be running fine.

Can anyone give me a hint why I can download from everywhere BUT the Microsoft site?

(AV/MAL/SPYware Progs: Norton Internet Security, CCounterSpy from Sunbeltsoftware, and Malwarebytes.)

Hello Joe and welcome to Seven Forums.

Try clearing your cookies, temp files, etc. Go to Internet Options > General tab > Delete (under browsing history.) Sometimes an old cookie or temp file keeps returning you to a non-working website.

Well, thanks for the reply, but that wasn't it. I did as you said and deleted all of my cookies, etc, and still I can't download from Microsoft. Weird, isn't it? I mean, I'm running their software, and all my hardware is definately MS Win compatable.

Microsoft won't support my call for tech help (unless of course I paid for it), so at this point I'm not quite sure what to do.

The above suggestions will likely work. But you aren't alone regarding access to MS servers (problems) as a few days ago I kept getting server errors - however, it cleared up after a couple days.

Regards,
GEWB

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Before I did something drastic like turn off Counterspy, I tried the suggestion before that and switched to Google Chrome as my browser, and I had no problems whatsoever downloading from the Microsoft Site.

I am unsure of what exactly could be the problem with IE8 - my security settings for Chrome were imported from IE8, so it's not that .....

Kind of ironic though, isn't it? That in order to download from Microsoft's site I have to quit using their browser and use there competitors ....

If anyone can give me a suggestion as to why IE8 won't work properly, I would welcome it.

How would I go about uninstalling ie8 and then reinstalling it? Is that even possible (to uninstall internet explorer from Win 7)?

Thank you to all who gave suggestions, and again, if you've a clue as to why IE8 won't work, I'd welcome it. I now have a suspicion there is some unfound mal or spyware on my system because of this problem.

Sigh... Even as Microsoft improves their OS (I love Win 7 over Vista) and browser's, they still have to go through a shake down period to get all the bugs out. (Though what with IE9 being officially released, IE8 should certainly be bug free by now.)

Thanks again!

How would I go about uninstalling ie8 and then reinstalling it? Is that even possible (to uninstall internet explorer from Win 7)?

You can't really uninstall Internet Explorer (it's a part of Windows 7) but you can turn it off. But before doing that, try resetting IE to its default settings. From Internet Options > Advanced tab > Reset button. Reboot and see if you can download from the Microsoft site.

If you want to try disabling IE go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off (left column) > Uncheck IE.