File Transfer Protocol Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Qustions (FAQs) are just what the name says; a list or file of answers to common questions about a particular subject, usually asked by beginners. FAQs are an extremely valuable resource. They help you get up to speed quickly on a topic, without taking up other Internet users' time and resources. Almost all newsgroups, mailing lists, and other special interet groups maintain a FAQ file for new users.

Here, you will find answers to frequently asked questions about copying and transferring files over the Internet. Check the list of questions to see if yours, or one like it, is among them. If not, use a search engine to track down the information. If you don't know what a search engine is, click here.

What is FTP?
What does a FTP url look like?
How do I get to an FTP site with my browser?
My browser tries to display a file I want, instead of downloading it. How can I make it download?
I downloaded a file, now what do I do with it?

What is FTP?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and is a method for transferring files from one computer to another over the Internet.

What does a FTP URL look like?

The URL format is for anonymous ftp sites is ftp://host.domain.com. You can also append an optional directory, as shown: 
ftp://ftp.someplace.com
ftp://ftp.someplace.com/pub/games
The second example will connect you to ftp.someplace.com, log you in anonymously, and then change directories to /pub/games.

How do I get to an ftp site with my browser?

 Use the ftp URL just like you would a WWW URL. Simply type it into the "Location" field (also called Address, or Location), or click "Open", and type it there. Your browser will automatically log you into the site as "anonymous" (it will fail if the site is password-only).

My browser tries to display a file I want, instead of downloading it. How can I make it download?

Move the mouse cursor over the file link you wish to download, hold down a Shift key and click on the link.

I downloaded a file, now what do I do with it?

 This depends on the file you downloaded. Most application programs will be archived with some sort of compression scheme. The most common archival scheme is zip. Files that have been compressed in this way end in .zip. Before you can do anything useful with the file contained inside the .zip file you must uncompress it. Most archives are not self-uncompressing, that is, you need to use another software program such as pkunzip to access the files.