very often when i download applications from the web, i do get choice of ftp and http download. can someone tell me what's the different between the 2. http seems to be a better option for me. thanks

This link might help both of us LOL: FTP BASICS See what others think but it looks to me that you stick to http unless you have some reason to do otherwise. Derek.W

Ftp is strictly a file transfer protocol. File Transfer Protocol) A protocol used to transfer files over a TCP/IP network (Internet, Unix, etc.). For example, after developing the HTML pages for a Web site on a local machine, they are typically uploaded to the Web server using FTP. FTP includes functions to log onto the network, list directories and copy files. It can also convert between the ASCII and EBCDIC character codes. FTP operations can be performed by typing commands at a command prompt or via an FTP utility running under a graphical interface such as Windows. FTP transfers can also be initiated from within a Web browser by entering the URL preceded with ftp://.

If I had created a webpage on my home or office computer, and was up loading it to a server (File server) whether routed from one LAN to another, or across the internet, I would use FTP. To simply view a webpage, I would use HTTP which retrieves data from a server on the net (usually in HTML) to view it. Think Storage and Uploading for FTP and Viewing and Donloading for HTTP. More: FTP, is a protocol used to upload files from a workstation to a FTP server or download files from a FTP server to a workstation. It is the way that files get transferred from one device to another in order for the files to be available on the Internet. When ftp appears in a URL it means that the user is connecting to a file server and not a Web server and that some form of file transfer is going to take place. Most FTP servers require the user to log on to the server in order to transfer files. In contrast, Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, is a protocol used to transfer files from a Web server onto a browser in order to view a Web page that is on the Internet. Unlike FTP, where entire files are transferred from one device to another and copied into memory, HTTP only transfers the contents of a web page into a browser for viewing. FTP is a two-way system as files are transferred back and forth between server and workstation. HTTP is a one-way system as files are transported only from the server onto the workstation's browser. When http appears in a URL it means that the user is connecting to a Web server and not a file server. The files are transferred but not downloaded, therefore not copied into the memory of the receiving device

hi all, thanks for the replies. Lobster Boy, according to what you've say, http seems to only transfer web page but not application, but how can that be? for example here : http://www.pcgameworld.com/download.php/id/5866/folder/demos/filename/secondsightsetup.exe there are option that i can choose http downloading. and i've done so many times and was able to save it to hard disk. and also, it seems faster using http then ftp. please forgive my ignorance, but its really contradicting to your explaination. thanks.

When Windows sees the file extension type of .exe (and many others that can not be displayed in the browser) it asks what you want to do: Open or Save to disk. FTP is faster because it's protocol does not require a two way communication like HTTP does. It does use markers and an End of File. From: http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc959/7_Scenario.html Quoting: There is no provision for detecting bits lost or scrambled in data transfer; this level of error control is handled by the TCP. However, a restart procedure is provided to protect users from gross system failures (including failures of a host, an FTP-process, or the underlying network). End of quote HTTP will check, in a two way communication, to make sure that each and every packet or frame is sent and received. eg. "I sent these packets; did you get them. Yes, send the next ones." The HTTP protocol contains information for the application (Internet Explorer in my case) to interpret and display the information being transferred. When using FTP (because of it's speed) either the download is good or you must re-download it. A FTP server could be slower if it using all of it's available bandwidth during your downloading. Meaning others are downloading from the FTP server at the same time. HTH Bryan