cant download anything from microsoft

Im using windows xp and whenever i try to download and install a program from the microsoft site (windows messenger, wmplayer, .NET framework) I get an error saying that the directory could not be found. Also of note is that this problem started after I used the system restore feature to restore my system.

 

if I were you I would do a repair of windows.

 

did you change your IE temp folder location by chance?

 

A repair is never your first troubleshooting step.

 

Well, Ill never know what the problem was now. Some idiot, probably my brother, reformatted the hard drive without telling me. So not only is the problem fixed, I lost all of my files. 0_o.

 

well, I was wrong. The problem is not fixed and I still have no idea what is causing it.

 

None of that worked. Popup blockers and firewalls dont give a windows error message when they block something, and just to clarify, when I download a .exe from microsoft to install something such as the .NET framework and run the program I get the following message:

http://www.geocities.com/the_mztr/untitled.bmp

Im fairly certain the same would happen if I tried to run SP2 from a cd.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Have you run 'services.msc' and checked to see if 'automatic updates' is running? If it isn't, you can't get anything from the Windows site.