>I am running the 128 bit encryption version as well. IE still snaps up now, but D/Ls still hang. When I click on a D/L link, the link shows up in the address bar but the status shows Done but nothing happens. I may be at the point of a reinstall. I'm still going to look for another option, if possible.

You might want to look into using something like GetRight as a download manager; I've used it for quite a while, and it offers significant advantages over IE's native support. www.getright.com (I'm using version 4.1.1; the only time I disable it is when I go to the WIndows Update site.)