Firefox downloading PDF files

  • Thread starter Thread starter Julian Cann
  • Start date Start date
J

Julian Cann

W98SE.
I have a website with a PDF file for my clients to download from an email
link which I send them. Using IE the link would automatically initiate a
download, but Firefox won't do that. It just opens the browser with a
blank page. Is there an extension or something to tell it to download
from a link which is a file like a PDF?
 
_Julian Cann_, lunedì 07/mar/2005:
W98SE.
I have a website with a PDF file for my clients to download from an email
link which I send them. Using IE the link would automatically initiate a
download, but Firefox won't do that. It just opens the browser with a
blank page. Is there an extension or something to tell it to download
from a link which is a file like a PDF?
Click to expand...

No need for an extension.
Open the menu Tools - Options - Downloads. There, under file types, change
the associated action for pdf files to "Save to disk".
 
_Julian Cann_, lunedì 07/mar/2005:


No need for an extension.
Open the menu Tools - Options - Downloads. There, under file types, change
the associated action for pdf files to "Save to disk".
Click to expand...
Thank you Maria.
 
_Julian Cann_, lunedì 07/mar/2005:


No need for an extension.
Open the menu Tools - Options - Downloads. There, under file types, change
the associated action for pdf files to "Save to disk".
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in Firefox 1.0 that overrides
this. I had mine set for save to disk and pdf files still wanted to
open in Firefox. The problem seems to be in the "Plug-ins" options.
While it appears that you can disable a plug-in by unchecking it, in
fact this did not work in Firefox 1.0. This has apparently been fixed
in 1.01. Before I upgraded, I always had to right click on pdf files
to save the link manually.
 
Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in Firefox 1.0 that overrides
this. I had mine set for save to disk and pdf files still wanted to
open in Firefox. The problem seems to be in the "Plug-ins" options.
While it appears that you can disable a plug-in by unchecking it, in
fact this did not work in Firefox 1.0. This has apparently been fixed
in 1.01. Before I upgraded, I always had to right click on pdf files
to save the link manually.
Click to expand...
yes I am running 1.01 and disabling the plugin has worked. I am still not
sure how to use the file types option as it will not let me put file
types into the box and the buttons are greyed out?
 
_Julian Cann_, martedì 08/mar/2005:
yes I am running 1.01 and disabling the plugin has worked. I am still not
sure how to use the file types option as it will not let me put file
types into the box and the buttons are greyed out?
Click to expand...

I noticed it me too, with 1.01 version.
I've seen though that the first time I click on a download link a Firefox
box pops up asking what it should do with that kind of file, open or save to
disk. Choosing to save to disk and checking the option to do always it, then
that file type appears in that box, under Tools - Options - Downloads - File
types, and the buttons are not greyed out anymore.
At the moment in that box I have zip, wav, and pdf file types, but when I
updated to 1.01 there was nothing in it.
 
_Julian Cann_, martedì 08/mar/2005:


I noticed it me too, with 1.01 version.
I've seen though that the first time I click on a download link a Firefox
box pops up asking what it should do with that kind of file, open or save to
disk. Choosing to save to disk and checking the option to do always it, then
that file type appears in that box, under Tools - Options - Downloads - File
types, and the buttons are not greyed out anymore.
At the moment in that box I have zip, wav, and pdf file types, but when I
updated to 1.01 there was nothing in it.
Click to expand...

Yes, the download option appears the first time you click on a file
type. One of the (few) things that annoys me about Firefox is that
there seems to be no way to just add a file type to the box manually
(unless someone has written an extension for this). Another complaint
I have concerns the notification dialog of exe files. When you click
on an executable, Firefox shows the download alert, but there is no
way to select an action, as the default is set to save to disk and all
other choices are grayed out. I suppose this is meant as a safety
feature to prevent you from running an unsafe program, but it seems a
bit high handed to me. This is not a problem for me, since I always
download executables instead of running them in place, but why should
I have to click away an extra, unnecessary dialog, if the only choice
I have is to save the file anyway?
 
_schrodinger's cat_, martedì 08/mar/2005:
When you click
on an executable, Firefox shows the download alert, but there is no
way to select an action, as the default is set to save to disk and all
other choices are grayed out. I suppose this is meant as a safety
feature to prevent you from running an unsafe program, but it seems a
bit high handed to me. This is not a problem for me, since I always
download executables instead of running them in place, but why should
I have to click away an extra, unnecessary dialog, if the only choice
I have is to save the file anyway?
Click to expand...

Good question! I can't understand this behaviour either.
 
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