Vincenzo - You're my hero!! I'm writing what I did step by step since this
seems to be a prevalent issue with so many.
Fix:
1. I went to the page you listed below:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/delcache.htm
and read how to completely delete my internet temporary pages, plus to
resize
my storage size to 50mb.
2. At the bottom of the page I followed a link to a freeware tool that will
help fix
issues, fix errors, and delete "junk":
http://www.ccleaner.com/
3. I installed and used the ccleaner tool. I found that on the part the
tool that
looks for "issues" took 3 runs to find them all.
(note: when you click on the clean button you will get a prompt to ask
if you
want to backup your registry first. If you click yes, it will back it
up, but the
program will close, just restart it again)
4. Once I finished using the ccleaner, I rebooted my system in safe mode,
which
is how I get the Admin log-in and figured it would be easier to delete
the
temporary internet folders since nothing else is running.
5. I logged in as Admin, went to my computer, c:\ documents and settings\
(my user name folder). Since It was in safe mode, I had to go to the top
menu Tools->Folder Options->Hidden Files and check "show hidden files
and folders"
6. Once the Temporary Internet Files folder showed, I deleted it.
7. Rebooted into the normal Windows start-up.
8. Went to the net, and was able to download images in their real format
again.
Endnote: As soon as I rebooted into normal mode, a windows update displayed
which was to re-install the Malicious Software detector tool. I re-verified
after the
tool was installed that I could still download images in their true format.
Thank you again for your advice and help,
Betty
See:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/delcache.htm
"Completely Deleting the Temporary Internet Files and index.dat".
[cut as this was the link that worked]
