How To please?

[geo1]

I've spent the entire night trying to get three different ftp clients to work. None of them are working and I don't know why. I've also spent the night reading and viewing numerous tutorials and howtos and they all have a common fault-None of them explain HOW TO DO ANYTHING. They all tell you what the application does or can do, or what I can do, or some other mountain of irrelevant information I do not need to get the thing up andr unning. Moreover I've found NOTHING that explains what to do IF you can't get Filezilla or any other client working I don't know why it is o difficult for people to give simple step by instructions rather than loads of useless chatter, but I'm hoping there at least one person here who can explain the following:

[1] OS: XP pro. Firewall ZoneAlarm (this doesn't matter b'cause it doesn't connect with or without it on)
[2]IIS N/A OFF. STOPPED.
[3] port: custom
[4] host address [WHAT DO I PUT HERE?]
[5] host FTP server: LOCAL COMPUTER. Not a hosting service.

Non working configuration is as follows:

passive connection
ftp.name.com [is this correct?]
port range: again custom
site:does the site go in the folder or does the folder go in the site?

ERROR: Status: Connection attempt failed with "ECONNREFUSED - Connection refused by server".
Error: Could not connect to server
WHY? This happens regardless of the application I am using or whether or not I have the firewall on.What am I doing wrong and please explain how to fix it.

I appreciate any clear, competent, experienced guidance here. Thank you.

[botg]

ftp.name.com [is this correct?]

Unlikely.

[geo1]

Since you inform that some part of what I am trying to do is not correct, now perhaps you can explain HOW TO do it correctly.
Is the point of these forums to help each other or just piddle around and belittle others who are only trying to accomplish what others have already and become too snooty to care that anyone else gets it?

I am really tired of the inhumane arrogance on these tech forums...

[botg]

How should I know the hostname of your server? Only your hoster can tell you that.

[geo1]

You obviously have no intention of explaining anything. That I am asking for assistance is already obvious to you, yet you delight in acting as if I am supposed to know how to do all of this. This is the typical attitude on these tech forums, and your response is typical. Rather than explain HOW TO do it correctly, you want to give me non-answers, non-explainations, and non-assistance.


I do not know what you are talking about. I have files I want to share via ftp. I explained very clearly that I AM THE HOST AND I AM NOT USING A WEB HOSTING SERVICE. Whatever WORKS with IIS DOES NOT WORK with any other ftp server application. I am asking someone to explain what I need to configure and how to configure it to get Filezilla to work. I have given all the information necessary to point out what needs to be done. Is it too much to ask you or anyone else HOW TO get the thing working?

[boco]

If thou art the host itself, then there is no hostname. You simply put the IP (or networkname) of the server PC in. Which one (internal/external) depends on the location from where you test: Inside the LAN use the internal, from a remote location (outside the router) use the external (WAN) IP. If you have a custom port put it into the Port field. username and password I'm sure you know, you defined it in the server.

Upon trying to connect, not only watch the Filezilla logs, but the server logs as well. If you get a reaction in the server logs but CONNECTION REFUSED in Filezilla, there IS somethin blocking. Not only firewalls or routers, but also antivirus, malware scanners or 'security' solution which sometimes seem to think FTP in general is a bad thing.

Passive vs. Active: If you don't like to deal with client configurations you should go for Passive. Here only the server needs to be configured. Important for Passive is: Client needs permission to make outgoing connections, server both.

There is a guide for Filezilla: Using. I agree that the case of a local server is not yet included. I think I'll add that.

[olyhousewright]

Thank you for so perfectly describing my feelings about every single issue you nailed! If, by slim chance, you figure this thing out, please do let me know! Thanks.

Olyhousewright

[geo1]

Thank you boco for taking the time to remember that once upon a time you were where others are and actually explaining something. I'll try your tips and see what happens. What confounds me though is why, at least today, there seems to be a default assumption that a web hosting service is being used or that ftp is implemented over a network. That wasn't the case five years ago and it isn't the case today. Most people who want to set up an ftp or web server are doing it from home, from thier own computer. Moreover, if you can set up your own server, aside from having a fixed domain-Why would anyone want to pay for web hosting in the first place?

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the logic there.

Anyway, thanks again. I'll keep you up to date on what happens...

[geo1]

UPDATE:

My consensus is that Filezilla along with every other application I've tried to setup and configure, is USELESS. Why? Because as long as I turn on IIS, it WORKS, RIGHT THEN AND THERE, WITH NO PROBLEM.
Now I don't want to use IIS simply because I have multiple directories to share and IIS from what I can tell just doesn't allow that.

But it WORKS. And whatever it is that makes it work is not something that Filezilla has as long as its taken me this long to accomplish nothing compared to to a single click. There should be no need for pages and pages of forums and wikis and this and that to resolve so many issues. It will either do what it is designed to do or it won't. And from the looks of the size of these forums, noone can get anything to work properly or to thier satisfaction. So for now I'm pretty much done with Filezilla, Blaze, Smart and Cute ftp, all of which I've tried and ALL of which do the exact same thing-absolutely NOTHING.

[boco]

Odd. I don't have IIS, never used it. For me, Filezilla works beautifully. Sadly, there are millions of configurations, a software working on all of them is an ILLUSION.

The only thing I could imagine is that enabling of IIS configures Windows Firewall for FTP. Disabling IIS closes it again.

Ah, and for the forums: Users with no problems don't post on the forums. So the assumption you made is not correct. Additionally, 90% of the questions asked here are not Filezilla problems, but deal with cheap crap hardware and configurations. FTP has been invented before firewalls and routers, that's the major problem with this protocol.

[Cypress]

UPDATE:

My consensus is that Filezilla along with every other application I've tried to setup and configure, is USELESS. Why? Because as long as I turn on IIS, it WORKS, RIGHT THEN AND THERE, WITH NO PROBLEM.
Now I don't want to use IIS simply because I have multiple directories to share and IIS from what I can tell just doesn't allow that.

Where you smart enough to download the filezilla server installer?

From that first post it looks like filezilla client setup shit... a client is NOT a server.