We’ve had increasing numbers of reports from Windows users that they keep being disconnected from the server when trying to upload files via FTP. We’ve verified that this is a problem when trying to FTP files using a Windows XP machine, using both the native, command-line FTP client and third-party GUI clients. However, when we’ve tested FTP using Mac OS X and Linux machines, there are no problems uploading files via FTP. This indicates that the problem is not on the server, and narrows the problem down to people who use Windows XP at least, but perhaps other versions of Windows too. The sudden appearance of this problem seems to suggest that perhaps a recent Windows Update has changed something that is causing this problem.
We were able to overcome this problem on the Windows XP machine we used for testing by adding the FTP program to the exception list in Windows Firewall. Here’s how you do it:
- Open the Control Panel.
- Switch to “classic view”.
- Double-click on the Windows Firewall icon.
- Click on the “Exceptions” tab.
- Click the “Add Program…” button.
- Find your FTP program in the list and click it.
- Click the “OK” button.
- Click the “OK” button again.
Below is a picture of what the “Exceptions” tab looks like on the Windows XP test machine, showing two FTP programs: the native “File Transfer Program” that comes with Windows, and FileZilla:
Windows Firewall "Exceptions" tab.
If you have problems uploading files to your website via FTP, please try adding your FTP program to the Windows Firewall exceptions list as described above. If you have any questions, please contact support. Thanks.
