Solving IE7’s Loss of “Drag and Drop” FTP
With the release of Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft removed the extremely handy “drag and drop” FTP feature that was seamlessly integrated in IE6.
You used to be able create shortcuts on the desktop that would directly open a remote folder via FTP with no intervention. With an open FTP folder window, remote file management was a breeze because it acted like a folder on your hard drive. This article shows you how to recover this helpful feature.
Drag-and-drop FTP windows are possible using the extended FTP URL syntax that includes a username, optional password, and the server’s address. Example:
ftp://user:pass@ftpsite.com/directory
Unfortunately, giving an extended FTP URL to IE7 only displays a listing of the folder in “read-only” mode. You then have to click the Page menu and choose Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer. That fails because IE7 doesn’t pass forward any user/password credentials in the URL. So then you have to completely retype the URL again. What a drag just to get the old drag and drop mode.
But I found a workaround to preserve the simple shortcut-like behavior we used to enjoy. It works because we completely avoid the browser.
Instead of using Internet Explorer, you use Windows Explorer (the file navigation part of the Windows operating system). To do this, create a batch file and name it something like ftpsite.bat with two lines:
@echo off
start explorer ftp://user:pass@ftpsite.com/directory
(Of course, replace the components of the FTP URL as appropriate.)
Run the batch file by double-clicking it. At first, nothing will seem to be happening. After 5-10 seconds it should eventually open up the FTP site in a window like you used to see in IE6. For the security conscious, if you leave out the :pass part (the password) it will prompt you to enter a password.
You can still open extended FTP URLs without having to create a batch file by going to Start -> Run and typing or pasting the FTP URL in the Open box and clicking OK. Basically, as long as you avoid IE7 and use Windows Explorer itself, the extended FTP URLs are honored.
This workaround is compatible with IE6, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Since it doesn’t involve the web browser, it also works for users who have non-IE browsers installed as their default.
December 10th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Brilliant solution - worked first time - nice and simple.
Thank you very much.
February 15th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Thanks so much! This solved that problem, quick and easy.
August 5th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Good suggestion, I hadn’t thought of trying firing off Windows Explorer by itself like that. Here’s an even easier way to do it, without need of a batch file. Just create a Windows shortcut with the target being “%WinDir%\explorer.exe ftp://user:pass@ftpsite.com/directory“. No batch file, single line, and you’re done!