IE 5.5 SP2 Can’t download exe files

I have recently installed IE5.5 SP2 After that (and I cannot say if it happened immediately afterwards) I have not been able to download executable files–IE tries to open them instead of downloading them. I can do a “Save As” and they will download. But I cannot just do a regular download. A blank screen appears with a very small icon with red, green, and blue colors in the upper LH corner and “Done” in the status bar.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks.