administrator in xp, how change permissions

You need to supply specifics as to what downloads and what errors lead you to believe this is a permissions issue. Answers are only as good as the information you provide. How to properly post a question: Sorry no tech support via PM's

As an example, Real Player. There are others as well.

"specifics" means quoting the exact error and the circumstances of when it occured. For example what browser are you using? What security level is it set to? What was the url you were trying to download from? Get the idea? BTW only one post per subject per forum allowed which is why your second post was deleted. Answers are only as good as the information you provide. How to properly post a question: Sorry no tech support via PM's