Failure when trying to listen to port 21 (ftp server)

[Guest]

I use FileZilla as an ftp server and found that it cannot listen to port 21.
However, it can run on higher ports. So I thought of something blocking it. I
use armor2net firewall, and I am not behind a router.

The firewall doesn't block it though. There's something else making the port
unavailable, and it's not listed in the firewall active connections. I
scanned my computer for malwares with several tools and nothing detected.

I just realized recently that I have the same problem with other ports (port
80, when trying to load the apache service, it was refusing to start).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Chadi.

 

[Kerry Brown]

It may be your ISP. Are the ports blocked on your local network or only from
the Internet?

 

[Guest]

Nope, it's not the ISP. Although, listening to a port is not affected by ISP
blocking.

 

[Kerry Brown]

I have never used armor2net. Have you tried uninstalling it. Some firewalls
block some ports even if the firewall is disabled. I would troubleshoot as
follows. Physically disconnect from the Internet if you are not behind a
router. Uninstall armor2net and any antivirus and antimalware programs. Many
of them have hidden firewalls. Make sure the Windows firewall is disabled.
Reset the winsock2 stack. Check if Filezilla will listen to port 21 and
Apache port 80. Once you have them listening to the ports start
reinstalling things until it breaks.

 

[Guest]

21 used to work in the past while the firewall was turned on. So I'm pretty
sure it's not about this firewall.

I will try your suggestion now, but what do you mean by reseting the
winsock2 stack? netsh winsock reset or netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt ?

 

[Kerry Brown]

netsh winsock reset catalog

followed by

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

This should make sure everything is set back to the defaults. The first one
should be enough. If you still can't listen on ports 21 or 80 then try the
second one.

NOTE: for anyone else following this. Following these directions will break
any software that modifies the winsock settings. This can include antivirus,
firewalls, antispyware, spam filters, and more. If you do not know exactly
what you are doing do not use the above commands. You may have to reinstall
some programs if you do.

 

[Guest]

Thanks alot for your assistance. I reset the winsock catalog, rebooted, and
it seems to work fine now

 

[Kerry Brown]

You're welcome

Now comes the hard part - finding out what caused it