h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm trying to use an ftp program to connect to a remote computer. I am running windows 95, and the remote computer uses NT. I can't seem to connect - do i have to be running the same operating system as the remote computer?

Definitely not. What is the problem when you try to connect?

It just won't connect - "failed to connect" or something like that. If the operating system doesn't matter, then I must have messed up the ftp address, or the password, or something similar. I guess I'll just have to wait until monday to ask the network guy

Thanks Anonymouse

It could have been something as simple as the machine you were trying to connect to was down at the time, too. What are you using for a telnet client?

beats me.....i've kind of given up on this for now.....thanks anyway!

Darn.. and I thought I'd smelt another helpdesk story in the making.


Oh wait... I do remember one... with a bit of a switch...

Sometime ago I was checking out a 'school' (more of a learning center -- supposedly) who claimed to teach all the neat stuff for computers, with the general idea of studying for a CNE and some others. They had a lab, but only three of their computers were set up for the internet. I asked one of the 'instructors' if their computers had telnet installed (these were all computers set up with demos and mock ups of things like NT, NetWare, etc).

I was shocked when he turned to me, stuttered, and said, "No, we don't use that. We're set up with XXXX.com." Duh... "Uhm.. telnet isn't an ISP." *shocked look* "ISP?" "Uhm.. Internet Service Provider?!" *I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about look* "Well, whatever it is, we don't have it."

I had to show him that they did, indeed have it installed (they were running W95, after all), and proceeded to amaze the guy with tales of how you could connect to other accounts via this amazing gizmo. This was an INSTRUCTOR, I remind you. Uhm... I didn't enroll.

smart move!

Your problem is almost certainly to do with the fact that in order to connect
one computer to another using a standard protocol, the former must be
running a client program (ftp), and the latter must be running a server
program (ftpd, or ftp daemon).

Windows NT does not have the ftp daemon as standard, it can only accept
Microsoft standard connections without third-party software.

If you have control over the remote computer, install a ftp daemon - there
are public domain versions availablem or use a Microsoft "standard"
connection technique.

If he has an ftp address and a password, chances are there is an ftpd running. Any sensible system admin would have the standard protocols in place. If NT doens't have ftpd intuitively, that says something else about Gates, doesn't it? (And certainly about NT's value as a -server- OS. )

Thanks for the help, but I'm staying out of our network guy's way and letting him figure it out. since i live 5 minutes from work, it really isn't that important anyway - i can just pop in to get what i want. But thanks again!

*blinks* ... You mean it still isn't fixed after a month?

On my old computer I had WIN 98 and on my new computer I have WIN XP. I have noticed that WIN XP takes a lot longer to load up.

This really needed a new subject heading.

I'd suggest a new conversation!

Malus