Using ftp.exe in Windows 95

Technical Writing Series: Internet

Using ftp.exe in Windows 95
By Angie Goh
Revised 2002

Introduction
This webpage is to teach you how to use ftp.exe included in Windows 95. It was orginally created to help geocitizens of Geocities to upload their webpages. Since Yahoo! bought over Geocities and stopped the free FTP service, all references to Geocities FTP server are removed. This webpage also has other information about ftp. You can go to the steps on using ftp.exe without reading the rest of the information.

To use ftp.exe, you require a little knowledge of DOS & Unix commands. If you know these commands, you will find it a breeze to use ftp.exe . But if you don't have that knowledge, then this page will give you step by step instructions. If you find it easier to use other FTP software and find this very hard to do, by all means click the "Back" button on your browser. If you are curious, or fed up with using the commerical softwares, or keen on increasing your body of knowledge, read on.

What is FTP?
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer and receive files. FTP gurantees transfer of files from your hard disk, provided that your ISP hasn't disconnected you.

Other Sources of FTP
There are other FTP programs that provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to transfer and receive files. Programs like WS-FTP or Cute-FTP , which are available on the internet as shareware. You will be able to find these shareware and other FTP programs on websites such as CNet's Download.com. Just go to the websites and type in the search "ftp" (without the " ").

But did you know that you have an FTP program already in your pc?

How Did I Get An FTP Program In My PC?
Well, when you installed Dial Up Networking in Windows 95, you automatically installed a file called ftp.exe . This is the file that you need to use to transfer the files from your hard disk to your geocities account.

How do I use the FTP.exe?
Now to the fun part... To differentiate the commands to type, they will be in a different colour and of a smaller font like this. Otherwise it will be just explaining to you the steps, or telling you what to do.

1)		You will need to know which directory contains all your files. When you do, open a MS-DOS prompt window. For those who know how to do this, go to step 2. Otherwise, read on.
	a)	To open a MS-DOS prompt window, click on the Start button in your task bar.
	b)	Move your mouse to Programs, then to MS-DOS Prompt.
	c)	Left-click your mouse button once.
	d)	You will see a window like this:

2)		Go to the directory that contains your files. If you know how to do this, go to Step 3. Otherwise, read on.
	a)	If you see C:\Windows> , type cd.. . Press the Enter key.
	b)	You will see C:\> . Type cd `<your directory name>` where `<your directory name>` is the directory that your files are kept. E.g. If your files are stored in webpage directory, type cd webpage. Press the Enter key.

3)	Type ftp <your ftp server name> where <your ftp server name> is the FTP server that you wish to connect to. E.g. If the FTP server is ftp.myserver.com, type ftp ftp.myserver.com. This will activate the ftp.exe program you have on your PC.

4)	Enter your User ID. Press the Enter key. If you are logging into servers that allows anonymous logins, type ftp. Press the Enter key.

5)	Enter your password. Press the Enter key. Passwords for anonymous logins usually require an email address. Type in your email address, e.g. me@myemail.com. Press the Enter key.

6)	After that a whole screen full of information will be displayed. Don't worry if you can't read everything. You will see a ftp> . That is equivilant to the C:\> in DOS.

7)		Uploading Files As you would know files have different extensions, and are saved differently. A webpage will have been saved differently from, let's say, a picture or a sound file. You should take care when uploading different files.
	a)	Uploading Webpages Webpages are written using HTML. The format of these HTML files are in ASCII format which basically means that they are stored as characters, and can be viewed using a text-editor like Notepad. By default, FTP servers are in ASCII mode, so you will just need to do the following steps. If not, type ascii. If you have one file, type put .html or put .htm depending on your extension. You will then see a line of text explaining what is the transfer rate of your files. After which you will see the ftp> again. If you have more then one file, type mput .html or mput .htm depending on your extension. You will be prompted to confirm the upload of the particular file. Press the Enter key if that is the file you wish to upload. Otherwise, type the n key and press the Enter key. You will then see a line of text explaining what is the transfer rate of your files. After a few times of confirming whether to upload your files (this depends on how many files you have to upload in the first place), you will see the ftp> again.
	b)	Uploading text files It's the same way as you upload webpages, except you have to change the extensions from .html or .htm to *.txt .
	c)	Uploading Images, Sounds, Movies, Java Classes, Real Audio and Real Video files These files are saved in binary mode, which means that only the computer or web browser can understand these files. You can't open it to see what's written. You will have to set the mode before uploading the file. To change the mode, type bin. You will see Type Set to I. After which the ftp> will appear. Using the same method of uploading webpages, you will just have to change the extensions. Images are in .gif or .jpg, sounds are in .mid or .wav or .mp3, movies are in .mov or .avi, Java classes are in .class, Real Audio files are in .ra while Real Video files are in .rv.

8)		Downloading Files This step will cover downloading of files. If you are not interested in this, go to Step 9.
	a)	Downloading Webpages Webpages are written using HTML. The format of these HTML files are in ASCII format which basically means that they are stored as characters, and can be viewed using a text-editor like Notepad. By default, FTP servers are in ASCII mode, so you will just need to do the following steps. If not, type ascii. If you have one file, type get .html or get .htm depending on your extension. You will then see a line of text explaining what is the transfer rate of your files. After which you will see the ftp> again. If you have more then one file, type mget .html or mget .htm depending on your extension. You will be prompted to confirm the download of the particular file. Press the Enter key if that is the file you wish to download. Otherwise, type the n key and press the Enter key. You will then see a line of text explaining what is the transfer rate of your files. After a few times of confirming whether to download your files (this depends on how many files you have to download in the first place), you will see the ftp> again.
	b)	Downloading text files It's the same way as you upload webpages, except you have to change the extensions from .html or .htm to *.txt .
	c)	Downloading Images, Sounds, Movies, Java Classes, Real Audio and Real Video files These files are saved in binary mode, which means that only the computer or web browser can understand these files. You can't open it to see what's written. You will have to set the mode before uploading the file. To change the mode, type bin. You will see Type Set to I. After which the ftp> will appear. Using the same method of downloading webpages, you will just have to change the extensions. Images are in .gif or .jpg, sounds are in .mid or .wav or .mp3, movies are in .mov or .avi, Java classes are in .class, Real Audio files are in .ra while Real Video files are in .rv.

9)	After you have finished uploading and/or downloading, type bye to exit.

10)	You will then see the C:<your directory name>\>. Then type exit to go back to Windows 95.

Ta-da! You have just learnt how to use ftp.exe ! Congratulations!


Related Articles
FTP Commands in a Nutshell by Angie Goh	Provides a summary of all the commands for a simple FTP session
Using a Script to Perform FTP Functions by Shannon Koh	Provides yet an ingenious way to use a file to execute ftp.exe commands
Other FTP Commands by Angie Goh	Provides a summary of other useful and helpful commands in ftp.exe
FTP Glossary by Angie Goh	Provides a glossary of the terms used in all the ftp.exe related articles

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