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FTPDrive has been a great utility for me, but it does not support 64bit Windows 7.
The feature of FTPDrive that is useful for me is accesing files from an FTP as local files without pre-downloading so that I can preview and watch movies from a local FTP server without waiting for a full movie to get downloaded first.
Do you know of any software which allows accessing files over FTP without pre-downloading?
axk
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 552
3
There are two new program, maybe these will support the acces over FTP without pre-loading.
First is Cyberduck, this will support map ftp drive in 4.2 version.
Source: http://trac.cyberduck.ch/ticket/5585
Second is ExpanDrive which is in beta, with 2.0 version for Windows.
We’re very happy to announce that we’re now publicly testing and will soon be releasing ExpanDrive v2 for Windows. This is the first major update to our Windows client ever and finally unifies our Mac and Windows products.
- FTP and FTPS drives!
- Massively increased speed and throughout
- Dynamic reconnect support – always stay connected
- New filesystem driver
Source: http://blog.expandrive.com/2011/06/16/expandrive-v2-for-windows-public-beta-2/
I tried this under XP with VM but, it didn't started. :(
wiktor
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 135
1
I know this is an old question, but for whoever may be searching for an answer, there is a command line free utility called ftpuse that does just this. It doesn't download the whole file, I should know since I'm using it everyday for listening to my music which I'm sharing from home by means of FTP server.
user3671607
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 143
1
I'm not sure if NetDrive works on Windows 7, but it's worth a shot.
Ben
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 454
I have tried it and it doesn't work on 64bit, they promise to add 64bit support, but the last version is dated 2008 so I think the project is dead unfortunately :( – axk – 2010-04-14T19:29:17.060
NetDrive is pretty much alive and kicking now. I've tested 8 of such programs with NetDrive on top. Too bad they're a little bit hungry for money with updates only included for 1 year and speed-limited free version. – Alph.Dev – 2016-02-16T15:06:49.450
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Have you tried opening as a URL in Windows Media Player? Ctrl+U and paste in the FTP url to the file?
Garrett
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 701
0
There is a new version of NetDrive:
[News] NetDrive v1.3.4 released (2/27/2013) - Windows8 support and a bug fix regarding ftp connection
I tested under Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit with an ~1.3 GB avi file. I opened the file in VLC Media Player and tried to seek in the movie. Works like a charm!
NetDrive is free for non-commercial home use.
wiktor
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 135
Currently I can't find anything to support the statement "NetDrive is free for non-commercial home use". Maybe they removed the free version? – vadipp – 2015-11-15T06:36:08.873
Yes, it seems they changed the license from version 2.0. – wiktor – 2015-11-18T21:12:27.953
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From CyberNotes: Map a FTP to a Drive in Windows, here's how to do that without any third-party product:
harrymc
Posted 2009-11-21T20:13:48.007
Reputation: 306 093
Thanks for the tip, but the problem with the approach (as with other 3rd party software) is that it would download the whole file before opening it, and if it is a 5GB movie you just want to skip through to see if it is worth watching it would take quite a while to download 5 gigs, whereas with FTPDrive I could just start watching and jump to any part of the movie just like on a local drive. – axk – 2009-11-21T20:59:28.570
Why would it download the file? This should (in theory) behave exactly the same as a local drive. – harrymc – 2009-11-21T21:05:33.657
indeed it downloads first the whole file to the temp directory before launching the file. – Snark – 2009-11-21T21:11:17.373
Though the proposed approach has not been helpful, the linked article metions few 3rd party tools. I have tried netdrive and it does support random access and they promise add support for support 64bit soon, so the answer has been useful. Thanks! – axk – 2009-11-21T21:35:33.487
1I've just tested it, and it really does copy it! Bloody MS. – harrymc – 2009-11-21T21:45:47.290
If you're interested, the commercial product WebDrive does that : http://www.webdrive.com/products/webdrive/index.html.
-1 for not testing first... – quack quixote – 2009-11-22T17:27:08.880
Have just tried WebDrive, unfortunatley this one copies the whole file first, and does it agressively - tries to copy all the files in the opened directory in the background – axk – 2009-11-22T17:52:38.410
@quack: I'm just the advisor here. I can't test every program I find. – harrymc – 2009-11-22T18:06:59.143
@axk: It seems like there's at the moment no product that does what you want. You might want to try running FTPDrive in a 32-bits virtual machine. Did you try FTPDrive under Win7 but in XP Mode? – harrymc – 2009-11-22T18:12:01.067
no worries, it's not a personal attack. i can't test everything either. if your answer had worked out, i'd have upvoted. it's more of a doesn't-match-requirement downvote. – quack quixote – 2009-11-22T19:59:37.763
They have a separate product called Mountain Duck for this. – Alph.Dev – 2016-02-16T15:02:38.857