im trying to set up a ftp server using
Windows 2000 Pro and its Built in Internet
Informtaion Services 5.0.

i have been able to get the ftp up and
running and users logging in but i am
having great dificulty creating "virtual
directories" or links to other drives on the
local computer.

when the user logs in all the get is the ftp
home directory (for example C:\) and i
have created a virtual directory linking to
D:\.

however the user cant see these virtual
directories.
ive tried sharing the drive with both
normal sharing and web sharing (tabs
when you right click on drive and get
properties) as it explained in the help
documentation.
ive given users and groups appropriate
permissions and still no luck.

in despiration i created a normal
windows shortcut to the drive and placed
that in the ftp's home directory but of
course clicking on that link within the ftp
client downloaded the file as *.lnk ;).

in summary all i want to be able to do is
create a link from the ftp root directory to
other drives.

please can anyone help me with this or
guide me in the direction of an
appropriate website with step by step
directions.

reply by email is prefered

thanks Paul

I have had the same problem. I figured that after creating a virtual drive or link, that users are unable to see it in the ftp root. The only way is if you tell them to either type the folder name in the address bar of the ftp root dir. This FTP feature is useless in Win2k. Ive stopped using Win2k's built-in FTP and resorted to using Warftp..a far more functional ftp server daemon.

The above comment is incorrect, I will old off on telling you how to do this seeing how its been 2 months since the post...in case you come back one day, email me at above address and I will give you the details on how to set this up

A work around is to create a physical directory with the same name in the location of the virtual directory so the FTP client can see the name.

/ --> c:\inetpub\ftproot
/sample --> d:\ftpvdir

If you create the directory c:\inetpub\ftproot\sample, the FTP client will see that directory in directory listings. The FTP client will only be able to see/retrieve files located in d:\ftpvdir. If any files are placed in c:\inetpub\ftproot\sample, the FTP client will not see them or be able to retrieve them.

You can also create a virtual directory for the FTP service from the Directories tab in the FTP Service Properties by choosing Add. Select the directory and type in an alias. The virtual directory alias is used to change to the directory.

The way you change to the directory varies slightly depending on if you use a web browser or standard FTP client to access the FTP server.