i am running windows 7 and i have got 3 account set up as standard users and would like to set one of those accounts to be able to download things from the internet and cant find any settings to change this.
does anybody know if this is possible and if so how

Welcome to D-A-L Forum,

It seems that Parental Controls installed on your computer or Built in Windows 7 Parental Control is responsible for the problem you are experiencing.

I would suggest you to check the settings of Parental Controls installed on your computer to resolve this issue.

You may follow the below instructions to change the settings of Windows 7 Parental Controls.

To turn off Parental Controls for a standard user account

• Open Parental Controls by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, and then, under User Accounts and Family Safety, clicking Set up parental controls for any user.
If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
• Click the standard user account that you want to turn off Parental Controls for.
• Under Parental Controls, click Off to turn off Parental Controls.
• Restart the computer and then check the status.

Hope this will help you, please let me know the results.

Thanks & Regards,
Ziyad, Bangalore.