SFTP as a folder on Vista

Is there a program available for Vista, that allows me to set up a folder as an SFTP connection to a remote server?

The use case is to have a folder on my desktop, where I can drag/drop/edit files and have my remote location be updated automatically.

I've googled this to no avail. Thanks!

bigmattyh

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 1 204

See also "Keep ftp folder sync’d with windows folder" at http://superuser.com/questions/48782/keep-ftp-folder-syncd-with-windows-folder

– Arjan – 2009-10-31T13:05:43.377

win-sshfs is decent, but doesn't automatically reconnect when the connection is broken. – endolith – 2014-03-11T13:49:29.850

Answers

ExpanDrive will let you do this. It has a 30-day trial, but requires a purchase ($39.95) after the 30 days.

heavyd

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 54 755

This is just what I was looking for. Thanks. – bigmattyh – 2009-10-17T20:21:45.120

NetDrive is free for home use and fulfills all your requirements. See its review in lifehacker.
Features:

Mounts remote storage as a local hard disk on your PC
Data transfer by drag and drop files in windows explorer
Able to run files (video, audio and any other .exe files)
Mounts drive automatically when Windows starts.
Operating System : Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 2003/2008 (32/64bit)

Open Source alternative:

win-sshfs is a new open-source project that mounts SSHFS/SFTP as a network drive :

SSH(SFTP) filesystem made using Dokan and SSH.NET library. It allows you to mount remote computers via SFTP protocol like windows network drives.

Commercial alternatives:

For example, WebDrive ($59.95), reviewed here:

WebDrive integrates FTP, WebDAV, SFTP or FrontPage servers into the Windows desktop by making your web server appear as a network drive.

Another option is ExpanDrive ($39.95) :

With ExpanDrive, you can securely access any remote file server directly from Explorer, or even the command line. No need to open a separate SFTP client just for file transfer. ExpanDrive extends the way all applications on your PC can access data.

harrymc

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 306 093

NetDrive is not compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows. – endolith – 2010-05-25T19:25:07.433

I added one open source solution – Kaii – 2012-07-08T09:23:54.603

6"except for sftp" I think SFTP was kinda the whole point. – Joel Coehoorn – 2009-10-15T19:20:28.013

According to LifeHacker, NetDrive does SFTP: http://lifehacker.com/300997/mount-remote-file-systems-with-netdrive

– Snark – 2009-10-15T21:35:05.993

2Excellent news for the OP (but isn't mentioned on the netdrive website). I've therefore edited my answer. – harrymc – 2009-10-16T06:08:34.063

I'm going to check this out after my trial of ExpanDrive expires. Thanks! – bigmattyh – 2009-10-17T20:22:36.850

JFYI: we have made SFTP Net Drive free application available. It lets you mount the remote SFTP folder as a local disk with a drive letter.

Eugene Mayevski 'Callback

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 379

SFTP Net Drive has moved here: https://www.nsoftware.com/netdrive/sftp/

– EpicVoyage – 2018-04-02T14:15:46.853

@EpicVoyage Thank you, I've updated the link. – Eugene Mayevski 'Callback – 2018-04-03T14:25:38.810

Haven't used it (I'm not on Windows), but looks nice. – Arjan – 2011-05-03T11:53:12.997

I have been using this solution for several weeks now... it is exactly what I think a lot of people are looking for. – russellpierce – 2012-07-14T05:54:39.333

Unfortunately Windows 7 does not remember my thumbnails for these drives, so it spends lots of time and bandwidth generating them every time I visit any folder. Is there a way to fix this? What effect do the "fixed" and "removable" options have? – endolith – 2013-12-07T01:51:41.207

There's no way to "fix" it because this is not a bug. Explorer reads thumbnails by design and so far nobody knows how to stop it from doing so. Network drive type should reduce the number of reads. – Eugene Mayevski 'Callback – 2013-12-07T09:57:19.277

DirectNet Drive is free for home use.

http://directnet-drive.net/index.php

ihtus

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 249

I thought FUSE would be helpful, but the Windows section claims:

Is it really true that there are no FUSE port for Windows? If anyone knows of one add it to this list, please.

So, if anyone here knows about it: edit that page!

However, that very same Windows section does list other options, some of which apparently "fall back to implementing a FUSE compatibility layer on top of FIFS which implements a SMB server to provide access to other filesystems". I doubt it's useful, but if all else fails then looking at that list might help. It seems that Dokan might be a good FUSE-like alternative for Windows, especially for SSH/SFTP.

(And, when really taking things to extremes, one could even use DeleGate as a FTP-to-SFTP gateway, just in case one finds something that only supports FTP...)

Arjan

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 29 084

There is a new open source project named "win-sshfs" that uses Dokan as backend. works pretty well for me: http://code.google.com/p/win-sshfs/ .. cannot add this as an answer yet.

– Kaii – 2012-07-07T21:45:06.823

Found new app - RaiDrive! So far, the best! https://www.raidrive.com/

ihtus

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 249

I might be mistaking it for FTPS (I always confuse the two), but I believe this capability is built into windows explorer. Just open a folder window and type an ftp url (including secure items) into an address bar. Something like this:

sftp://user:pass@ftpsite.example.com/

You should be able to make a normal windows folder shortcut to that location as well. If you leave off the username and password it should prompt you.

Joel Coehoorn

Posted 2009-10-15T17:40:38.650

Reputation: 26 787

I don't this this meets the Drag-and-Drop requirement. – jww – 2019-11-15T15:01:01.443