There's been threads discussing this issue over the past mth or 2. What happens is that the files being dwnlded by LW lose their creator identity. Generally I start with the easiest solutions, but today I'll start the other way around.

Get a file utility (there's a few of them around). My favourite for this purpose is Mac Army Knife. Open the File Attribute Editor, dag & drop the file into there & adjust what's needed. Generally just the creator, but sometimes also the Type. To be sure of what you're doing, drag & drop a file of the same type that doesn't suffer the same problem & make a note of all its attributes. Then replicate the Creator & Type (& perhaps version-but be careful unless you're sure). This should be the only changes you need to make. After u press Update, bingo...the appropriate icon,etc. returns.

Easier methods: Go to your Apple menu items & control panels & open File Exchange Control Panel. Add the file & other examples to the list & add the application that should open it (u may need to open the advanced section here.) Listen I haven't used it for donks so if u need me to go thru it in detail with u I'll get back to OS9 & try it out (I'm in OSX at present.)

Make sure u keep your system properly maintained. For eg: occasionally rebuild your desktop by holding down both your Command+Option keys during startup & press yes to rebuild. Run 3rd party utilities such as Norton, DiskWarrior & TechTool Pro, etc. to repair any minor / major issues. Generaly u shuld rebuild your desktop after installing software to be on the safe side.

Any files that have an extended name, shorten. U can do this within LW whilst the file is dwnlding by using the Annotate button. Add appropriate name to any files that are missing their extension.

I suffered this problem intermitently on a G3 using os 8.5 & LW2 And then moving the files to an older computer.