no matter how many times i click download i keep seeing this page

I believe that this will likely be considered out of scope of what the forum moderators are allowed to help with (it says in the EAQ that they will only help with 1.18+ issues), however I think I know how to solve the issue.

Go to the download page again, but don't click install-- instead click "Show All Versions", and a list will appear below this button. Hover over the "i" next to the installer of the first result, and select "Direct Download".

54 minutes ago, Dumdum said:

I believe that this will likely be considered out of scope of what the forum moderators are allowed to help with (it says in the EAQ that they will only help with 1.18+ issues), however I think I know how to solve the issue.

As an aside, we will typically only lock old versions from their usage (running up the installer or playing the game with it) and development. The question asked here is just downloading a version of Forge from a common bug in Chrome browsers, which is affected on any version.

54 minutes ago, Dumdum said:

Go to the download page again, but don't click install-- instead click "Show All Versions", and a list will appear below this button. Hover over the "i" next to the installer of the first result, and select "Direct Download".

Preferably, use a different browser than Chrome first. If that doesn't work, then do what Dumdum recommended.

6 hours ago, ChampionAsh5357 said:

Preferably, use a different browser than Chrome first. If that doesn't work, then do what Dumdum recommended.

This is because going about doing it this way won't give the author any ad revenue for their work. Because it doesn't cost anything, ad revenue is how the author receives any income from this project which takes a lot of effort.