Firefox breaks Windows's FTP!

October 1, 2005 9:42 PM

Why does Firefox break Windows' FTP abilities, and how can I fix it?

Under My Network Places, I have an FTP link to my website. It's got the password saved, so all I have to do is double click it, and suddenly I'm looking at a window I can drag stuff into and out of for some quick and nasty FTP action.

Even better, I can alt-drag a folder out of there onto my desktop, which becomes an Explorer shortcut to that FTP directory. It's not fancy, but it's smooth.

Then I install Firefox. Now, double-clicking that shortcut opens it in Firefox. It fails to log in, and I can't upload. FTP is broken! How can I get that lovely functionality back?

(And why can I find nobody else complaining about this?)

posted by skryche to computers & internet (14 comments total)

It's because you told Firefox to become your default browser. Those shortcuts need to open in Internet Explorer.
posted by kindall at 10:35 PM on October 1, 2005

It's doing that because Firefox registered itself for http: https: and ftp: url schemes. Presumably you want ftp: to go back to Internet Explorer.

Tools | Folder Options | File Tyes | find the line near the top that says "URL: File transfer program" (the extension will be '(NONE)') | Advanced | edit the open action to call internet explorer.

If you want, you can run IE, tell it to make itself the default browser again (under options somewhere) then go to the above location and note the setting for ftp: URLs. Then run Firefox and tell it to make itself the default browser (assuming you want this - if you don't just leave IE the default and you're done) and then go edit the ftp: URL action back to whatever it was.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:38 PM on October 1, 2005

How is the link constructed?

I use Firefox, and I have a 'My Network Places' link to my xbox's FTP server. It hasn't had any trouble... it opens in Explorer (not IE). The link is like: "FTP://username:password@ipaddress".
posted by pompomtom at 10:45 PM on October 1, 2005

(These instructions may only work on Windows XP Pro)

To change Internet Explorer to your default application for FTP shortcuts, do this:

1. Open My Computer or any other folder
2. Go to Tools > Folder Options
3. Click "File Types" tab
4. Find the item with "(NONE)" under the extension field and "URL:File Transfer Protocol" under the file types field.
5. Click the "Advanced" button
6. Click the "Edit" button
7. In the box for "Application used to perform action," put in this, exactly: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" "%1"
8. OK all the dialogs
posted by Anoxs at 10:46 PM on October 1, 2005

The reason you can't find anyone else is complaining about this is because no one uses the IE FTP client for anything important.

Use a standalone client. I use Transmit on my Mac, I don't know what the current good windows ftp client is -- in the old days I used WS-FTP.
posted by blasdelf at 12:17 AM on October 2, 2005

-Correct that-

No one smart enough to use Firefox uses the IE FTP client for anything important.
posted by blasdelf at 12:19 AM on October 2, 2005

What blasdelf said, but w/o the snarkiness. WS_FTP is OK. So is CuteFTP (despite the name) and SmartFTP is acceptable and free. You should get a real client. FTP support in Firefox and IE is most rudimentary, and deliberately so.
posted by ori at 3:58 AM on October 2, 2005

Jesus, way to turn a simple technical question into a thinly veiled excuse to question someone's intelligence and choice in software. Did he ask for advice on what FTP client to use? No, I don't think so.

Ask MetaFilter is as useful as you make it. Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer. Wisecracks don't help people find answers. Thanks.

posted by Rhomboid at 4:17 AM on October 2, 2005

I am unoffended. I use Filezilla for multiple files, but that's, like, twelve extra clicks.

If I shouldn't be using IE to do FTP, I'd like to know why.

So... how come Filezilla doesn't take over the FTP protocol, but Firefox does?

Oh, and thanks to all for the input.
posted by skryche at 6:58 AM on October 2, 2005

And to answer your question, pompomtom -- the My Network Places links still work; it's the "Internet Shortcuts" that I keep in other directories that have been breaking.
posted by skryche at 7:03 AM on October 2, 2005

Also there are a few FTP extensions for Firefox.
posted by glenwood at 9:53 AM on October 2, 2005

Sorry for all the snark.

The reason you shouldn't be using IE to do FTP is the same reason you shouldn't be using IE to browse the web.

It's insecure, as it doesn't support anything but vanilla FTP, and it doesn't even do that well, causing the people who write FTP servers to feel like modern web designers -- fustrated.
posted by blasdelf at 10:44 AM on October 2, 2005

glenwood: "Also there are a few FTP extensions for Firefox."

I second this one. Wholeheartedly.
posted by mystyk at 3:02 PM on October 2, 2005

Oh, excellent. FireFTP works with 1.5!
posted by skryche at 6:35 PM on October 2, 2005