Vista won't let me download anything

I got a new laptop using Vista Home Premium. Anytime I try and download something it get to 99% and stops. It says it is loading to a temporary file but it never completes. This happens on emails sent where it is an attachment or if I try and download a program off the internet. I am very new to Vista but I can't find the fix. Acer says it isn't their problem and won't help without me paying for it and Microsoft wants to charge me as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have Norton Anti Virus and I run Spybot. My internet connection is through cable. I will try your suggestion now and leave the results. Thank you. I hope it works.

 

Same thing happens. Says 2 seconds left and at 99% but would not complete. I could download it from another computer and use a jump drive to install if you think this will solve my problem. Thank you.

 

I have 2008 antiVirus with Antispyware and the box says it is for Vista Home Premium (as well as others). As for is it up to date, it is as much as it will allow me. I had 2 errors but because I have to download something from Nortons website, I could not complete it. Those 2 errors were LU 1812 and LU 1825.
I sure appreciate your willingness to help me find my problem. I will uninstall Spybot and try the rest and get back to you with the results. Thanks.

 

I uninstalled Spybot and rebooted. Then tried to download the link you provided earlier and it still did not work. It had the same window as before (2 seconds left and 99% complete). I will now load it with a jump drive and let you know.

 

This did not resolve my problem. I removed Spybot, rebooted, disabled Norton and tried to install the link you provided. Then I used a jump drive to install the program, ran it then uninstalled ccleaner to see if the problem had been fixed. But it still would not complete the install. Any other ideas?

 

Still looking for someone smarter than I to help me.

 

I actually have Norton Antivirus 2008 with antispyware. None of those entries were in the registry so I have done nothing else at this point. Still need to download from the internet and my guess is that it is some wierd setting in Vista somewhere but I can't find it. :confused

 

I tried Firefox and was able to download my email with attachments and view it which I had not been able to do. I also was able to download a program off the internet thru Firefox for the first time. Why does this work but not IE? Is it a setting buried somewhere or just incompatibility with Vista? Thanks most kindly for your help in getting me to a place where I can download.

 

I have IE version 8 on it right now. Thanks so much plodr for not giving up on me and helping me get to this point. Anyone else out there know what I have to do to be able to use IE 8? Thanks in advance.:wave

 

Not to say you shouldn't get the problem fixed but from a usability/ customizable / security point of view you are much better off with Fire Fox IMO