Cannot Reach FTP Sites by Using FQDN

When you attempt to connect to a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site by typing its Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) in the Microsoft Internet Explorer Address bar, you may receive the following error message: However, if you use the IP address of the FTP site (for example, ftp://192.168.88.8), instead of its FQDN (for example, ftp://ftp.domainname.com), you can connect to the FTP site.

This behavior can occur when you access the Internet through certain CERN-compliant proxy servers. The FTP Folder interface of Internet Explorer is incompatible with some CERN-based proxy servers.

To resolve this issue, turn off the FTP Folders feature in Internet Explorer. To do this, follow these steps.

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1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Advanced tab.
3. Under Browsing in the Settings box, click to clear the Enable folder view for FTP sites check box, and then click OK.
4. Quit Internet Explorer.
5. Unregister the Msieftp.dll file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the Start menu, click Run.
   2. In the Open box, type the command line appropriate for your operating system, and then click OK. If you are running Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Windows 98 Second Edition, type:
      regsvr32.exe /u C:\Windows\System\msieftp.dll
      If you are running Microsoft Windows NT, type:
      regsvr32.exe /u C:\Winnt\System32\msieftp.dll
6. Click OK to the DllUnregisterServer in path\msieftp.dll succeeded message.
7. Restart your computer.

NOTE: When FTP Folder functionality in Internet Explorer 5.x is turned off, Internet Explorer 5 uses the FTP features of Internet Explorer 4.x.

FTP Folders is a shell extension in Internet Explorer 5.x that lets you browse FTP Web sites in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer by using an Internet Explorer-style folder-based interface. For additional information about FTP Folders in Internet Explorer, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: