"Cannot connect to the FTP server" error message when you access an FTP site in Office

In a Microsoft Office program, when you click Open on the File menu, select a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site, and then click Open, you may receive error messages that are similar to the following:

This problem may occur if your computer is connected to the Internet by a proxy server, and if the FTP proxy settings in Microsoft Internet Explorer are not correct.

To prevent this problem, correct the FTP proxy settings. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options.
3. Click the Connections tab.
4. Click LAN Settings.
5. Click Advanced.
6. Under Servers, click to clear the Use the same proxy server for all protocols check box.
7. In the FTP box, type the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for your FTP gateway server. The following example illustrates the syntax to use:
   ftp://ftpgate
8. Click to clear the Port check box to the right of the FTP box.
9. Click OK, click OK again, and then close the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings dialog box.
10. Click OK to close the Internet Properties dialog box.

You can now connect to an FTP site in the Open dialog box of the programs listed in the "Applies to" section.

If you still cannot connect to an FTP site, ask your network administrator whether you are referring to the correct FTP gateway server.

To verify the FTP server name, follow these steps:

1. In Microsoft Office programs that use a menu-based user interface, click Open on the File menu.
   
   In Microsoft Office programs that use a ribbon-based user interface, click the Microsoft Office button in the upper-right corner, and then click Open.
2. Click Add/Modify FTP Locations in the Look in box.
3. Click the name of the FTP server to which you want to connect, and then click Remove. After you remove the location, type the FTP server name in the Name of FTP Site box, and then click OK.

Note You may have to quit and restart the program before you connect to an external FTP site.

In Microsoft Office XP and in the 2007 Microsoft Office programs, you can use the Open dialog box to connect to an FTP site on the Internet and a local intranet. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Office XP, click Open on the File menu.
   
   In the 2007 Office programs, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Open.
2. If the FTP site to which you want to connect is listed, click the name of the FTP site in the Look in box.
   
   If the FTP site is not listed, click Add/Modify FTP Locations. Type the name of the FTP site that you want to access, select a logon type, and then click OK.
   
   In the Open dialog box, click the name of the FTP site that you want to access, and then click Open.

The contents of the FTP site are listed in the Open dialog box. You can open folders and files as if they were stored on your local hard disk.

When you access an external FTP site through Internet Explorer, only the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) proxy settings must be correct. This is true because Internet Explorer uses the HTTP protocol, the standard protocol for accessing information on the World Wide Web, to emulate FTP when you connect to an FTP site.

Office programs require that the FTP proxy settings be correct when you access an external FTP site. This is required because these programs do not use the HTTP protocol to emulate FTP. Instead, the FTP proxy settings are used.

If you click to select the Use the same proxy server for all protocols check box in the Internet Options Control Panel, you may not be able to access external FTP sites with Office programs.