Unable to access FTP Sites using Windows Explorer

HOT TIP: Are you suddenly experiencing problems with using My Network Places to access your FTP sites? Have you experienced problems using the Windows Explorer directly to access your FTP sites?

Some of the symptoms include

Nothing happens when double-clicking on 'My Network Places'
'My Network Places' opens, but nothing happens when I click on an FTP Website
When you use the 'Add Network Places Wizard', the FTP URL you enter generates the message, 'The folder you entered does not seem to be valid'
When you try to access a FTP site such as ftp://username:password@myftpsite/ Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) or Mozilla Firefox will try to display the FTP site in an HTML view.
When you are in your IE Browser and click on the 'Page' option and select 'Open ftp site in Windows Explorer' you get the message "This site cannot be opened in Windows Explorer".

Problem Analysis

The problem occurs because Google Chrome has modified your registry settings for FTP

If you installed Avast Anti Virus software, version 7.0.1426, there is an option at the bottom of the installation page that asks you if you would like to install Google Chrome. This box is checked yes by default.

Problem Solution

Unfortunately, uninstalling Google Chrome will not fix the problem. Registry entries must be modified manually. You will need access to a computer running the same Operating System (Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, etc.) to obtain the correct registry entries. Once the registry entries are obtained, they can be imported back into the corrupted computer. Once the file is exported, copy the file to the broken computer and double-click on it to apply the registry changes. Make sure that you back up the registry on the broken computer first and that you only export and import the following key.

The registry changes were made to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp]

The registry entries for Windows XP should look something like this:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp]
@="URL:File Transfer Protocol"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000002
"ShellFolder"="{63da6ec0-2e98-11cf-8d82-444553540000}"
"Source Filter"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
"FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\ieframe.dll.mui,-905"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,75,00,72,00,\
6c,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,30,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\Extensions]
".IVF"="{C69E8F40-D5C8-11D0-A520-145405C10000}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell]
@="open"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE\" %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="\"%1\",,-1,0,,,,"
"NoActivateHandler"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec\ifExec]
@="*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"

The registry entries modified by Google Chrome are highlighted, above.

Other things to check: Go to Internet Explorer Options | Advanced and make sure that the 'Enable FTP Folder View (outside of Internet Explorer) option is checked.

This problem was experienced on Windows XP, but the problem probably occurs on Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well.

Holy Moly!!!!! Thank you so much for the tip on how to correct my Windows registry to take care of a pesky ftp problem! I think it happened when I installed Chrome - exported a ftp registry key from an unaffected computer to mine and BOOM! Works like a charm :) -- Bri

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