my ftp app not work correctly on Vista - OK on XP?

[Rich P]

I wrote a simple ftp app for listing/downloading files from a directory
on an FTP/web server. My app appears to install fine on XP and Vista
machines, and it can communicate (list/download) with the FTP/web server
no problem on the XP machines (Pro, HomeEdition). But on this Vista
laptop my app wont connect to the FTP server (note: I did not try
ftp.exe from the command line to rule out if it is the app - but I think
the app is OK). An I.T. guy said that by default Vista network
connections are set to disabled or something like that. However, I can
view an aspx page on the same Web server from the Vista Laptop. I just
don't seem to be able to connect to the FTP server part. Is this
something with my app (C# VS2008) or do I need to enable something in
Network Properties of the Vista Laptop?

If I need to enable something -- is there code to automate this
procedure?

Thanks,

Rich

 

[Peter Duniho]

I wrote a simple ftp app for listing/downloading files from a directory
on an FTP/web server. My app appears to install fine on XP and Vista
machines, and it can communicate (list/download) with the FTP/web server
no problem on the XP machines (Pro, HomeEdition). But on this Vista
laptop my app wont connect to the FTP server (note: I did not try
ftp.exe from the command line to rule out if it is the app - but I think
the app is OK).

Your application is probably fine, but there's absolutely no reason to
skip the diagnostic step of verifying that other FTP clients (such as
ftp.exe) also do not work on the same computer.

An I.T. guy said that by default Vista network
connections are set to disabled or something like that. However, I can
view an aspx page on the same Web server from the Vista Laptop. I just
don't seem to be able to connect to the FTP server part. Is this
something with my app (C# VS2008) or do I need to enable something in
Network Properties of the Vista Laptop?

If I need to enable something -- is there code to automate this
procedure?

There might be a firewall setting on your Vista laptop that is
preventing communications. This could be either simply blocking
outbound FTP traffic, or your FTP program might be configured to _not_
be using "passive mode", which is needed any time the computer is behind
some kind of proxy, NAT router, etc. where the computer cannot act as a
server itself.

Until you know exactly what's preventing the program from working, you
won't know what the solution is. For sure, it's at least partially
related to configuration, but there might also be something in your
code. You need to do more diagnosis before you will know exactly what
needs to be changed.

Pete

 

[Jeff Johnson]

However, I can
view an aspx page on the same Web server from the Vista Laptop. I just
don't seem to be able to connect to the FTP server part.

Web sites use port 80 (HTTP), whereas FTP uses, well, FTP! (That would be
ports 20 and 21.) Your Vista firewall and/or virus software may be blocking
20 and 21 but allowing 80 (80 is almost ALWAYS allowed by default). As far
as automating this, it might be possible, but your code might run afoul of
your virus scanner and/or need administrative permissions to do so. And like
Pete said, you really should have tried ftp.exe. It would have taken maybe
10 seconds to test....

 

[Rich P]

Thanks all for the replies. It is my friend's vista laptop. I will ask
him to check his firewall settings (an a-virus settings)

Rich