downloads wont start

i am having a strange problem while downloading files from the internet. Whenever i click on a file to download , the download confirmation box(the one with save /open option) does not appear ,instead the page page shows a waiting status(in status bar).
However the file continues to be downloaded in the background(and is saved in some other folder). Only after the file is downloaded do i get the download confirmation box asking whether to save or open the file.
I encounter this problem on all browsers i use (firefox/chrome)

thanx for the welcome and the prompt reply


My problem was a bit different than what i think u interpreted it.
Suppose i had to download a 100Mb file then on clicking the file i the status bar would show waiting for somehost.com for sumthing around 20-30 mins(tym it takes to download a 100 MB file on my connection). After that i would get the download confirmation box(open/save etc) nd on selecting "save" the download is successfully finished almost immediately and i can locate the file in my required folder. Basically i can not monitor my downloads.

I am having the same exact problem that boygenius was.

I'm using Firefox 17.0.1

I've already tried resetting Firefox.

I was having this problem, but when I went into the task manager and shut off an process by the name of Web Companion the download started instantly