Windows 7 Default download location ignored in IE

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Sebastian42

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Jan 15, 2017
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I.E. v11 in Win7 Pro keeps downloading to the desktop, even though I have set the default download location to \Downloads\. How can I make it behave correctly ?
 
Solution
Just open regedit and navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer
Select it and look on the right and you should see the value listed below. Make sure it's pointed to your Download folder.
Value: Download Directory
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In Windows there are generally multiple keys can do the same thing (a user level key and a system wide key). The above key/value I mentioned doesn't appear to exist in Windows 7. There are these two you can create as sz_string and enter the path, the other option that should work is do a reset on IE under Tools > Internet Options > Advanced. Do both reset buttons.
 
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As soon as I get access again.
 
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I'm puzzled about 'There are these two you can create as sz_string and enter the path' unless you mean 1. registry tweak OR 2. I.E. reset

I presume the one (or two ?) entries of 'RegQueryValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Default Download Directory' go into the right pane of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer ....
 

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There are two values listed in my screenshot. IE will try and use either one so you only need one of them. The one that starts HKCU is HK Current_User and HKLM is HK Local Machine. The operation shown is RegQueryValue so Main is the key and Default Download Directory is the value.

1 = Keys
2 = Values
3 = Data
 
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Thanks so much - I have something to 'concrete' to get on with next time I get access - for what my opinion is worth - I think this may clinch it.

On closer inspection : Is it true that your attachment shows GENERAL examples of Keys, values and Data
and I have to be the one to find the relevant HKCU and/or HKLM keys (1) to apply your advice to ? viz e.g.
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main; create a Value (2) of Default Download Directory, but then what Data (3) do I enter ?
Thanks for your tolerance of my apparent incomprehension.
 
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The path you want it to default to. Reg keys should accept environment variables so "%USERPROFILE%\Downloads" should work.
 
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I got physical access again and navigated to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer - and entered a key and named it Default Download Directory. The owner reports NO improvement. I think I finally understand what the instructions required of me [I did a trial run in Win10] - and that has NOT YET been done - waiting for next access.
 
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I got remote access again and navigated to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main. In the right pane I clicked Default - to modify its value to Download Directory. That did NOT achieve the desired result. So maybe I have still misunderstood - and the value should have been all or part of C:\Users\Username\Downloads - is that correct ?
 
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The problem is there are quite a few places in registry that IE will look for a download location, you may need to download procmon and filter for iexplore.exe get to the point in IE where you are about to download something, enable event capture in procmon, download file then stop procmon and look for keys regarding download. Then you have to look at them in regedit and see what they are set to.
 
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Sounds interesting but daunting. Since this is not the only anomaly in PC behaviour, I've decided to walk away from them, by giving him a fresh Win10 as soon as conditions permit.
 
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Upgrading to Win10 has been deferred because of a surprise development. Increasingly unreliable internet culminated in strange boot messages and the systray clock losing time. So I replaced the motherboard battery and things have improved much. Even IE's default download destination is now sometimes (or permanently ?) correct. I tried various interventions to achieve this and none of them worked at the time, so I can not identify which procedure produced the success NOW experienced.
 
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