I can not perform software updates or download any programs. They appear in the download box as images that are not recognized. How can I fix this?

I can not perform software updates or download any programs. They appear in the download box as images that are "not recognized". I thought maybe my antivirus software was setting up a firewall, but I have disabled it, so that's not the case. Any suggestions as to  how I can fix this?

If the downloads are gone, it's possible that Windows is removing the downloads based on security policies set in IE. I realize that sounds strange, but it's related to Firefox's feature of submitting downloads to your virus scanner and marking them as having come from the internet.
To test this theory, you could try disabling the scan feature. I assume you have good "real time" antivirus protection which checks every file saved to your hard drive. (If not, you really should get that, and you can use Microsoft's free [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials Microsoft Security Essentials] for now until you have time to review all the available choices.)
(1) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the filter box, type or paste '''scan''' and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click '''browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone''' to toggle its value.
Firefox now should ignore Windows' download security. Does it change how Windows handles the file?

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