Older version of Filezilla, or newer version of something else?

April 7, 2008 6:00 AM

Older versions of Filezilla? Or another freeware ftp client that can handle SSH and SSL?

Hard drive got fried in a storm this weekend, and I'm currently reinstalling everything to the new drive. I was running Filezilla version 2 (I think 2.3.2), and it ran like a top. But I just tried installing the latest version in its place, and a couple of SSH connections don't work with it. They're returning "garbled packet" errors.

Googling reveals that they use puTTY for SSH, and that's where the error comes from. Checking with puTTY, they insist it's not an error, it's a server configuration problem, but there's no way I can get these servers reconfigured, and anyway the older software connected and transferred to them just fine. Also, I've tried the connection with two other non-free clients at work, and no problems occur. Argh.

So I've tried to find a download page for older versions of Filezilla client, and am coming up with nothing. Does anybody know where I can find either Filezilla 2, or -- even better -- can you recommend a freeware ftp client for WinXP that can handle both SSH and SSL transfers?

posted by middleclasstool to computers & internet (8 answers total)

Look for CoreFTP Lite. No spy/adware, supports ssh and ssl. Good stuff.
posted by 8dot3 at 6:02 AM on April 7, 2008

here you go.
posted by unmake at 6:03 AM on April 7, 2008

I use WinSCP for all my Windows secure file transfer needs. I've never used it for FTP, but I just checked, and it works. For the secure forms (both SCP and SFTP) it can enable compression, which is nice.

Another nice feature is that you can download it very easily as a standalone app.
posted by Xoder at 6:05 AM on April 7, 2008

That's the official sourceforge old version archive. an unofficial repository (with more of the 2.x series) can be found at oldapps.
posted by unmake at 6:05 AM on April 7, 2008

Thanks, that was quick. I'll check out Core as well. Xoder, only reason I didn't mark you was WinSCP doesn't support SSL transfers.

Any other recommendations, keep 'em coming.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:16 AM on April 7, 2008

You can always install cygwin on windows and use the ssh binaries that come with it.
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:34 AM on April 7, 2008

damn dirty ape: sometimes you want a client with a GUI.

Just a personal aside here:

I stopped using WinSCP mostly because it has no Unicode support and the author refuses to add it.
I then tried out FileZilla, but it tries to get an exclusive lock on every file it transfers from the local machine, which is unacceptable (the file is usually open by another program). I hear the feature not to get an exclusive lock was there in 2.x but is gone in 3.x. It also didn't seem to install whatever it needs for drag-and-drop to work correctly, so that doesn't work; and the interface is a little too cluttered.

I'm starting to think of writing my own client...
posted by azazello at 6:44 AM on April 7, 2008

Granetd, but if he's getting compatibility issues then he's best off with openssh as its the most popular ssh implementation out there.
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:51 AM on April 7, 2008