# Pics never download **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 29, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503 "2017-04-29T15:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/1 "2017-04-29T15:51:05Z")
I have a MacBook Pro circa 2011, and I use safari for a web browser. For some reason, I can never (or almost never) download pictures other posters post using Photobucket or other such applications. The applications open, but all I get is the “spinning spokes” and it seems the picture never downloads. Or, I lose patience after a few minutes and give up. Am I doing something wrong? Once in awhile, I get the image to download, but even then it is unlikely to download again if I try later. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/2 "2017-04-29T16:54:31Z")
Dunno Mac, but foolish webmasters have a dozen ways to stop downloading images, and they are all defeatable. If you have Firefox try opening **Tools/Page Info** ; under the Media tab all the images on the page are listed — and there’s even a handy little **Save** button. Or add the **DownThemAll!** extension. You can pick and choose which images to plunder. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/3 "2017-04-29T17:23:16Z")
I only have this problem in this MB. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/4 "2017-04-29T17:47:16Z")
The only involvement the SDMB has in this is that we have viglink acting as an intermediate when you click on links. If viglink is borked up somehow, it may prevent you from getting to photobucket or whatever site you are clicking a link for. Once you actually reach photobucket, the SDMB isn’t involved any more. If photobucket loads but all it gives you is a spinning wheel, that’s between you and photobucket. FWIW, I get the spinning wheel with photobucket a lot on my linux computer, and I am running adblock and noscript so viglink doesn’t even have a chance to get involved. I never have an issue on windows. It seems to be something that photobucket doesn’t like about non-windows systems. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/5 "2017-04-29T18:11:51Z")
[I asked about the same problem in November](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=810744). No replies. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/6 "2017-04-29T18:50:26Z")
Depending on the set-up of the browser — modern browsers try very hard to prevent useful elements being shown — if you have a browser address bar with the viglink problem **engineer** mentions, go to it with your cursor and edit out the bit before the https:// etc. Photobucket url, then hit go. I only use linux, but haven’t had this particular problem. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/7 "2017-04-29T21:31:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I have a MacBook Pro circa 2011, and I use safari for a web browser. For some reason, I can never (or almost never) download pictures other posters post using Photobucket or other such applications. The applications open, but all I get is the “spinning spokes” and it seems the picture never downloads. Or, I lose patience after a few minutes and give up. > > Am I doing something wrong? Once in awhile, I get the image to download, but even then it is unlikely to download again if I try later. What version of Safari do you have? Your MacBook sounds old enough that it may not support the latest version. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/8 "2017-04-30T00:36:44Z")
V10.1 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/9 "2017-04-30T12:49:27Z")
I think the OP meant merely “view” instead of “download”. I get this quite a bit. Photobucket is the worst offender and can be quite random. A month or two ago a Doper posted two links to their own Photobucket pics. One worked for me and one didn’t. It’s incredibly easy to post a picture on a web page. Has been for nearly 25 years. Photo sites don’t want to do it the regular, standard, guaranteed to work way. (Keeping people from right-clicking and saving the pic or just flat out site copying is part but not all of this. Such methods, of course, don’t stop the determined.) So we get spinning circles. Good job there, web developers. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/10 "2017-04-30T12:53:49Z")
If the images download sometimes and not at others then it’s not a browser problem. It has to be, as **engineer\_comp\_geek** suggested upthread, either an intermediary link or Photobucket itself. I don’t know if Safari has this but Firefox will show you what url you are waiting for at bottom left of the screen. That would identify the problem website. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/11 "2017-05-09T15:45:34Z")
FWIW, I’m working in the office today so I’m on Win 7 and using Explorer 11. While Safari is often balky with PhotoBucket, Explorer today is not loading at all. At all. Chrome loads the pictures though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pics-never-download/785503/12 "2017-05-10T04:21:51Z")
These problems are why leaner image hosts like Imgur popped up. I generally tell people not to even use Photobucket anymore. You can keep Imgur URLs private if you want.