Connecting to FTP, Gopher, and Telnet Sites | Running Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

[Previous] [Next]

In addition to the ubiquitous HTTP protocol and the World Wide Web, the Internet is also home to FTP, Gopher, and Telnet sites. FTP and Gopher sites usually consist of lists of documents and files for downloading. Telnet sites allow you to interact with a host computer in much the same way you would if you were dialing up a bulletin board system (BBS). To connect to an FTP, Gopher, or Telnet site, enter the address for the site you want to connect to in the same way you would for a World Wide Web page. Just as with World Wide Web addresses, you can do this with the Address bar or with the File Open command.

What you see next depends on the type of site you're visiting.

FTP sites look much like ordinary Windows Explorer windows. Icons represent folders and files, and you can choose your view (Large Icons, Small Icons, List, or Details) and sorting order using familiar Windows Explorer methods. You also use Windows Explorer procedures for opening, downloading (copying from the FTP site to your computer), uploading (copying in the other direction), deleting, and renaming files.

What you can do at the FTP site depends on the permissions granted to you by the site administrator. Some sites are open to anonymous logons (that is, anybody can log on), whereas others require a user name and password. For logon information, see the next section, "Logging On to Password-Secured FTP Sites." On some sites, you can only view and download files; on others, you can also rename, delete, and upload files.

For Gopher sites, Internet Explorer provides the same interface as it does for the World Wide Web. You simply click links to navigate through folders or to download files. FTP and Web sites have largely supplanted text-only Gopher sites, which are dying breed in the rapidly evolving Internet.

When you enter an address for a Telnet site, Internet Explorer opens a terminal program in a command prompt window, and you interact with your Telnet site using that program.

TIP
Windows 2000 includes two Telnet programs. Telnet.exe is the text-based client that runs in a command prompt window, and it appears by default if you enter a Telnet address in Internet Explorer. HyperTerminal is a general-purpose communications program that you can use for Telnet sessions. For information about HyperTerminal, see Chapter 23, "Using HyperTerminal."

Logging On to Password-Secured FTP Sites

The address for an FTP site that allows anonymous connections (no password required) looks much like that for a Web site. An anonymous connection to the Microsoft Corporation FTP site looks like this:

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com

To connect to an FTP server that requires you to provide your user name and password, use this format:

ftp://name:password@ftp.microsoft.com

(Replace name and password with the logon information assigned by the server administrator.)

TIP
When you log on to an FTP site by including your name and password in the address, you can save the page as a shortcut or a favorite and you'll never need to enter the name and password again. For information about favorites and shortcuts, see "Adding an Item to Favorites," and "Creating Shortcuts to Web Pages." Be aware, however, that your password is saved as clear text, and anybody can glean your password by examining the properties dialog box for the favorite or shortcut—or by looking over your shoulder when the address is displayed on the Address bar.

You can also log on after you arrive at the FTP site. (If you connect to a secure FTP site without providing your credentials, you'll be rebuffed with an error message and you can't view any files.) Open the File menu (or right-click in the window) and choose Login As. Internet Explorer then displays a dialog box where you can identify yourself.

TIP
To see who you're currently logged in as, look on the status bar or, if you're in Web view, look in the left side of the folder window.