How can we make a ftp link open in windows explorer on Windows? - windows

Been trying to find a way to do this for a while.
Opening a link in an windows explorer window instead of a browser.
For example using this link : ftp://username:pass#ftp.domain.com:80
And opening it in Windows Explorer.
Is it possible to dictate how windows should react when clicking on that link in a email ?

Thank you Fabian H!
Your solution works fine for me :-)
I made just a small change to your code, infact I wrote:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\IE.FTP\shell\open\command]
#="C:\\Windows\explorer.exe" %1
Instead of:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\IE.FTP\shell\open\command]
#="C:\\Windows\\explorer.exe %1"
This second one didn't work for me :-(
But now I can finally enjoy using explorer.exe as the default FTP Client!!
PS:
Tested on WIndows 7

Save these lines in a file with a file name ending .reg and double klick the file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\IE.FTP\shell\open\command]
#="C:\\Windows\\explorer.exe %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\IE.FTP\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
#="Explorer"
Tested on WIndows 8.1 64bit.
Thanks to Perneel for his link.

The Windows registry keys shown before didn't work for me, but this works:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\FTP
Use Web Based FTP = "yes"
Just change value to "no".
(Windows 7 Pro x64)

I was fumbling around looking for how to do this and I ultimately decided to go with the "Add Network Location" wizard method as described here by "nhinkle".
However after doing so, I got a link that generated this shortcut:
ftp://MYFTP_LOGINID#FTPADDRESS/Some/Folder/Navigation/&Stuff/
More what it actually looks like:
ftp://123445_65432#78.13.223.184/root/main/servers/current/
Then was prompted for my login credentials, and thats it. Does not open in Chrome and I just did Send To > Desktop (shortcut) and moved that shortcut to the folder I wanted it in. Now I can open the FTP location from explorer by hitting the link instead of typing the address into the address bar, and it is not opening up in any internet browsers.
I only have one ftp account, dont know much about any background magic that the wizard may have done regarding registry/etc, and I feel like deleting the shortcut wont really undo any of that if it did happen, so if someone could test this and confirm whether or not it works, that'd be great.
Just my 2c :)

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\ftp\UserChoice
Check it out, i got the above answer working by deleting this entry

For regularly used FTP sites, if you don't want to make registry edits, create a shortcut using the following format and your site will open in Windows Explorer.
%windir%\explorer.exe ftp://

Related

Is there a Microsoft Edge equal of chrome --app to open a web app in msedge from command line

I want to open jupyter lab as a web app in Microsoft Edge. Like it is possible in chrome.
I've looked for configurations in firefox but they either don't support localhost or they are complex by making a new profile.
If you have the website link of the app, you could use the code below via Command Prompt (cmd) to open it in Microsoft Edge:
start microsoft-edge:http://www.google.com
The result is like below:
Late into the question, but: Basically
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --app="https://www.google.com"
... works. this can also be put into a shortcut and it shows up with an own icon in the Taskbar this way.
The exact same way it works if you first create a shortcut e.g. on your Desktop, starting with
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"
changing it to the initial example from above via the shortcut properties... this will still miss the "correct" shortcut icon for the "app", anyway, it works.
BTW.: I also used Firefox for this, unfortunately they dropped support for --web-app cmd support in early 2021 ;/

Make an Internet Shortcut file open Internet Explorer

I currently have an Internet Shortcut file "My Link.url":
[InternetShortcut]
URL=https://somewebsite.com
I believe Internet Shortcut files are always opened in the default browser.
Does anyone know how to force opening in Internet Explorer?
I have come across .website files but Windows Security Shield (is that the right name?) blocks it opening.
Use case: *nix server creating a file that will be downloaded to the users desktop.
You should be able to use a normal .lnk shortcut point it to iexplore.exe and supply your url as the first parameter

Windows 10 installation

I installed windows 10 on my computer.
Every time I restart my computer, my all new files disappear
and my desktop is empty!!!
Is it a bug or setting issues?
How can I restore my files back
Thanks in advance!
You somehow corrupted your explorer.exe or changed a registry setting :
If you corrupted explorer.exe, best bet is to do a repair or system restore.
To check if explorer.exe is set to your shell:
Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up task manager. Click File>Run new Task.
Type REGEDIT, click ok.
Click the plus sign (navigate through) entries:
-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
-SOFTWARE
-MICROSOFT
-WINDOWS NT
-CurrentVersion
Click the folder WINLOGON
in the box to your right, find the entry Shell.
If the data correspondig to it is not Explorer.exe, double click Shell and modify it to Explorer.exe.
Close the registry,
Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up Task Manager.
File>New Task. Type explorer,
click ok.
I think something is gone wrong by the installation. You can look for the files in C:/users/"you username"/desktop if they arent show there you can try other users in the /user/ directory. Maybe you have a bit of luck and the files are stored by the wrong user by some weird reason.
In the most cases the best solution is to reinstal Windows 10. I think it is faster than looking for an solution. (when you havent install a lot of software)
How you can restore your windows (clean instal) it is explained in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzTNjs8k15Q
Make sure you have an backup from your data ;-)
(sorry for bad english, iam from holland ;-) )
yes it looks like the installation process has not been taken place properly without any interruptions.
The most convenient solution in my experience is:-
1.search locally 'recovery options'through windows 10 search icon on the left bottom corner
2.click "get started" button under "reset my pc".
3.select the option "keep my files".
then once you are safely back in windows 7, again start the process of updating to windows 10 in a fresh manner WITH the pc plugged in to power and with a stable internet connection.

Opening a CHM file produces: "navigation to the webpage was canceled"

I am trying to open a .chm file.
I downloaded the source, extracted it, and double clicked on Waffle.chm and clicked "Open" but no matter what element in the chm file I click, I get the message:
Navigation to the webpage was canceled.
What you can try:
Retype the address.
What's going on here?
Summary
Microsoft Security Updates 896358 & 840315 block display of CHM file contents when opened from a network drive (or a UNC path). This is Windows' attempt to stop attack vectors for viruses/malware from infecting your computer and has blocked out the .chm file that draw data over the "InfoTech" protocol, which this chm file uses.
Microsoft's summary of the problem: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896054
Solutions
If you are using Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, windows has created a quick fix. Right click the chm file, and you will get the "yourfile.chm Properties" dialog box, at the bottom, a button called "Unblock" appears. Click Unblock and press OK, and try to open the chm file again, it works correctly. This option is not available for earlier versions of Windows before WindowsXP (SP3).
Solve the problem by moving your chm file OFF the network drive. You may be unaware you are using a network drive, double check now: Right click your .chm file, click properties and look at the "location" field. If it starts with two backslashes like this: \\epicserver\blah\, then you are using a networked drive. So to fix it, Copy the chm file, and paste it into a local drive, like C:\ or E:. Then try to reopen the chm file, windows does not freak out.
Last resort, if you can't copy/move the file off the networked drive. If you must open it where it sits, and you are using a lesser version of windows like XP, Vista, ME or other, you will have to manually tell Windows not to freak out over this .chm file. HHReg (HTML Help Registration Utility) Utility Automates this Task. Basically you download the HHReg utility, load your .chm file, press OK, and it will create the necessary registry keys to tell Windows not to block it. For more info: http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/fix-cannot-view-chm-files-network-xp-2003-vista/
Windows 8 or 10? --> Upgrade to Windows XP.
"unblocking" the file fixes the problem. Screenshot:
Win 8 x64:
just move it to another folder or rename your folder (in my case: my folder was "c#").
avoid to use symbol on folder name. name it with letter.
done.
In addition to Eric Leschinski's answer, and because this is stackoverflow, a programmatical solution:
Windows uses hidden file forks to mark content as "downloaded". Truncating these unblocks the file. The name of the stream used for CHM's is "Zone.Identifier". One can access streams by appending :streamname when opening the file. (keep backups the first time, in case your RTL messes that up!)
In Delphi it would look like this:
var f : file;
begin
writeln('unblocking ',s);
assignfile(f,'some.chm:Zone.Identifier');
rewrite(f,1);
truncate(f);
closefile(f);
end;
I'm told that on non forked filesystems (like FAT32) there are hidden files, but I haven't gotten to the bottom of that yet.
P.s. Delphi's DeleteFile() should also recognize forks.
The definitive solution is to allow the InfoTech protocol to work in the intranet zone.
Add the following value to the registry and the problem should be solved:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000001
More info here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896054
Go to Start
Type regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx
You should get a success message like:
" DllRegisterServer in hhctrl.ocx succeeded "
Now try to open your CHM file again.
other way is to use different third party software. This link shows more third party software to view chm files...
I tried with SumatraPDF and it work fine.
I fixed this programmatically in my software, using C++ Builder.
Before I assign the CHM help file, Application->HelpFile = HelpFileName, I check to see if it contains the "Zone.Identifier" stream, and when it does, I simply remove it.
String ZIStream(HelpFileName + ":Zone.Identifier") ;
if (FileExists(ZIStream))
{ DeleteFile(ZIStream) ; }
There are apparently different levels of authentication. Most articles I read tell you to set the MaxAllowedZone to '1' which means that local machine zone and intranet zone are allowed but '4' allows access for 'all' zones.
For more info, read this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/892675
This is how my registry looks (I wasn't sure it would work with the wild cards but it seems to work for me):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"UrlAllowList"="\\\\<network_path_root>;\\\\<network_path_root>\*;\\ies-inc.local;http://www.*;http://*;https://www.*;https://*;"
As an additional note, weirdly the "UrlAllowList" key was required to make this work on another PC but not my test one. It's probably not required at all but when I added it, it fixed the problem. The user may have not closed the original file or something like that. So just a consideration. I suggest try the least and test it, then add if needed. Once you confirm, you can deploy if needed. Good Luck!
Edit: P.S. Another method that worked was mapping the path to the network locally by using mklink /d (symbolic linking in Windows 7 or newer) but mapping a network drive letter (Z: for testing) did not work. Just food for thought and I did not have to 'Unblock' any files. Also the accepted 'Solution' did not resolve the issue for me.
Moving to local folder is the quickest solution, nothing else worked for me esp because I was not admin on my system (can't edit registery etc), which is a typical case in a work environment.
Create a folder in C:\help drive, lets call it help and copy the files there and open.
Do not copy to mydocuments or anywhere else, those locations are usually on network drive in office setup and will not work.

command prompt anywhere in Windows 7 (native functionality)

I got this tip from a website that "shift + right click" on a folder in explorer in win7 will give us a context menu option by which I can open command prompt right there.
I am looking for a hack that can make this simpler so that whenever I "right click" on a folder in explorer, I always get that "shift + right click" effect.
I am not looking for any info on powertoys.
I need help on exactly what I said above; there has to be some registry hack that makes that "shift" default for every right click on the folder name.
Delete the registry key HKCR\Directory\shell\cmd\Extended. It works for me on the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate.
http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/windows-7-elevated-command-prompt-in-context-menu/ says you also need to delete HKCR\Drive\shell\cmd\Extended if you want the same to apply for drives shown in Computer, and HKCR\Directory\Background\shell\cmd\Extended for the empty space inside a folder window.
I also had the same question about viewing the cmd prompt without the key combination recently. I am on Windows 8.1 and found that PleaseStand's solution works perfectly.
PleaseStand's solution mentioned worked great for me:
Delete the registry key HKCR\Directory\shell\cmd\Extended.
It works for me on the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate.
This says you also need to delete HKCR\Drive\shell\cmd\Extended if you want the same to apply for drives shown in Computer,
And HKCR\Directory\Background\shell\cmd\Extended for the empty space inside a folder window.
I might add to anyone who might wonder, HKCR means HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

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