Downloading Images?

I have XP Home with Firefox and just recently when downloading pictures the target folder has decided to switch from "Thumbnail View" to "List" I know that I can switch it back to Thumbnail but once I save the picture and find something else the folder is back in List. I know it is not the end of the world if I download the same image twice but it is extremely irritating having to keep switching back to Thumbnail view. Does any kind person know where I have to kick the bloody machine to make it recognize that I want my settings not its? In a similar vein every so often I want to e,g. delete a folder and a comment box pops up with something along the lines of "You can't do this because another program or something is using it". I DON'T CARE, is there a Ctrl + something etc that will force the computer to do what I want, not what it wants please?