In a previous post I complained about how hard it was to use FTP in Internet Explorer’s newest browser version, 7.0. The problem is that in keeping with the Windows Vista-type theme, IE 7.0 hides the File menu by default. That means that when you hit your FTP site, you can’t go to “File | Login as…” to give your FTP credentials.
Never fear. I’ve found a partial solution!
The key is in the words stated above: “by default”. It turns out that Microsoft includes the feature in a menu option called “Classic Menu.” Activate the Classic Menu toolbar, and you now have access to the File menu.
Here’s the rub: there is no longer a “File | Login as…” option in IE 7. Instead, you can now use the File menu to select the “Open FTP in Explorer” option. Then you have to go to “File | Login as…”. See IE 6 did this step for you. It changed the window from an IE 6 window to a Windows Explorer window. In IE 7, you have to go the extra step.
If you’d rather skip this step, you can simply right-click on the Start Menu, and select the “Explore” option. Then, in the address bar, enter your FTP location (i.e. ftp://ftp.example.com; don’t forget the ftp://, or it won’t work!) Then use Windows Explorer’s “File | Login as…” option to access your site via FTP as you were used to with IE 6.
This Windows Explorer problem may be an issue with Windows XP, and may go away when Windows Vista comes out next year. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. In the mean time, you can still achieve your IE 6 expected functionality by using one of the choices outlined above.
Update (11/20/06): I’ve posted again on this topic… Click here for the new post.
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