webpages blocked/not opening

Hi, I chose the above title because really I don't know what is happening. When I click on a link on a webpage often I will get what I would call an 'exclamation' noise (as much as to say you can't do that) on my computer and the link won't open. One particular site this happens with is Download.com (if I can mention names). When I try to download a programme the next page appears thanking me for downloading whatever programme, but I didn't get an option to save it, so obviously it is not downloaded. Clicking on the programme download link again just takes me back to the first page. This happens every time on this site and I get this same noise. Even putting it into my trusted sites doesn't make a difference. Can anyone tell me what the problem might be. I can't see anything in my settings that would cause this. I should say that this has happened ever since I installed windows etc onto a new computer. Very annoying, especially if the document concerned is important. I am using IE7. Thanks for reading and in advance for any help offered. hedley

Hi,
There a number of things that can cause this problem, so we need to try and eliminate some things and hopefully thereafter we will be able to arrive at a solution.
1 Download Mozilla Firefox :
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/firefox/
2 Install it and see how you go.
3 Report back with details of how your machine functions on opening links using Firefox
Regards
paws

Sounds like the Popup blocker is kicking in.