Can't open ftp site in windows explorer

One of our users mistakenly installed Google Chrome when installing an Adobe update and then uninstalled it. However the uninstall did not restore all of the Internet Explorer setting causing multiple problems. One issue was that the user could not use Windows Explorer to view an ftp site.

When the user logged into an ftp site and went to "View" and then "Open ftp site in Windows Explorer" nothing would happen. After searching for this issue we found others had a similar problem and were able to export the registry key [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp] and then import it into the computer that was having issues. In our case the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp] registry key was missing entirely from the user's computer and needed to be recreated.

A standard Windows 7 registry looks like the following.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp]
"Source Filter"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
"ShellFolder"="{63da6ec0-2e98-11cf-8d82-444553540000}"
@="URL:File Transfer Protocol" "
AppUserModelID"="Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default"
"EditFlags"=dword:00200002
"URL Protocol"="" "
FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-905"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\url.dll,0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open]
"CommandId"="IE.Protocol"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" %1"
"DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}" >

If you choose to create a registry import for your situation using the text above, you will need to do the following.

1. Enable the extensions for file types

• Open Windows Explorer
• Click the "Tools" menu option, then "Folder options..."
• Select the "View" tab
• Uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types"
• Click OK

2. Create the import registry file

• Right click on the Desktop, select "New", then "Text Document"
• Double click the text document to open it.
• Select and copy the registry information above on this page.
• Paste the text into the text document and save it.
• Right click on the text document and rename it "FTPExplorerFix.reg"
• You will be prompted about the file extension change, click "Yes"

3. Import the registry settings by double clicking on the FTPExplorerFix file you just created.

4. Reset the file extension settings following the steps in step 1 above to hide the extensions.

Now you should be able to test the change by opening Internet Explorer, connecting to the FTP site, and then changing the view to use Windows Explorer. 

We can only hope that Google and other application vendors would do a better job of cleaning up their mess when their applications are removed. This is just one of many reasons we don't support Google's Chrome application for installation on a Microsoft Windows system. But to be fair we do support the use of Google's search engine, which is by far the best in speed and accuracy.

We hope that this information is helpful. Please let us know how this has helped you or if you have additional questions. As always Firestone Technical Resources, Inc. is here to help with your computer support issues - "Providing personal service for your impersonal technology."