Internet Explorer Cannot View Directory Listing of FTP Site

ID: Q153731

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 2.0 for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 2.0, 2.01 for Windows 3.1
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 2.0, 2.0.1 for Macintosh

SYMPTOMS

When you use Internet Explorer to connect to a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server, the list of files and directories on the FTP server may not be displayed in Internet Explorer.

This problem affects the following versions of Internet Explorer for the indicated platforms:

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 2.0 or earlier for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 2.01 or earlier for Windows 3.1
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 2.0.1 or earlier for Macintosh
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 2.0 for Windows NT 3.51

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the FTP server is configured to send the directory listing to the client (or browser) in an MS-DOS directory listing format.

RESOLUTION

Most FTP servers can be configured to format directory listings in either an MS-DOS (DIR) format or a UNIX (LS) format when sending the output to an FTP client. For the versions of Internet Explorer listed above to display the contents of an FTP server, the output must be formatted in the UNIX format.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer listed above. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

For information about configuring a Microsoft Windows NT FTP server, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q103075
   TITLE     : How to Format Directory Output with FTP Server

   ARTICLE-ID: Q132711
   TITLE     : Configuring Windows NT for WWW Clients To Browse FTP
               Server

For information about configuring a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q147621
   TITLE     : IIS FTP Service Registry Parameters

For information about configuring other FTP servers to send output in the UNIX (LS) format, please refer to the server's documentation.

KBCategory: kbenv KBSubcategory: msiew95 msiew31 msiemac winplus Additional reference words: 2.0 2.01 2.0.1 ie2 ie20

Keywords          : winplus msiew95 msiew31 msiemac 
Version           : 2.00 2.01 | 2.00 2.0.1
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: September 3, 1997