Why can many downloads not be openened at any time after downloading?

[Old Sparky]

Having just been trough my 'Downloads' list, and 'removed from history' about a dozen that could no longer be opened from the download link, some only downloaded in the past 2 days, iwondered why there is a time limit on being able to open downloads, especially when they're free to download in the first place.  I save and/or print any that I'll want to refer to in the future, and obviously I can go back to free downloads at any time at their source, still wonder why, once downloaded, the files are not  permanently available from my downloads list.

[Terry]

I'm not sure I understand this.

I'm assuming that this is nothing whatsoever to do with this forum but refers to the Download Folder on your PC.

If you've already downloaded the file and it appears in your Downloads folder, you don't need the download link to open the file - that should simply download a duplicate file with a (1) appended to the file name. If you click on the file name in your folder, it should simply open the previously downloaded file.

Once you've downloaded a file, you should be able to open it any time that you want. If you've moved a file it will no longer stay in that folder and, if you've renamed the file it will still be there under its new name.

If you rename a file and corrupt the file extension or delete the full stop separator you will have problems opening it but that is more likely to produce a message of the "Windows doesn't know which program to use to open this file" sort of message.

Open the folder and go to Organise/Folder and search options/View and check that 'Hide extensions for known file types' is not checked, just in case something is interfering with the file extensions. This will make unwanted changes easier to see.

At the end of the day, if the file name still appears in the folder (you can refresh the display by keying f5) the file must be there - or, at least, the corrupted remains of it. Try checking the file size of one of these files, then download it again and check the size of the new file - they should match.

It goes without saying, I hope, that your virus software is fully up to date and you have run a full scan since this problem started.