HOWTO Map an FTP Server to a Drive Letter in Windows 7 
Finally. I have finally worked out how to map an FTP server to a drive letter in Windows Explorer without using some proprietary or GUI driven software.

This entry will show you how to use a small free utility called FTPuse to map your FTP server to a drive letter in Windows 7 and also how to make ftpuse run at log in so your FTP is always there in Explorer for you to use.

Update Log


20150527 - Found that ftpuse task wasn't working on login even though Task Scheduler log said everything was running fine. I figure that the task would end, which is the same as if you open a cmd window, run ftpuse to map the drive then close the cmd window. The mapped drive disappears if you do this, so I figured we need to open a cmd window as SYSTEM user so the window is hidden from the user, use the /k option to run a command but keep the cmd window open and run ftpuse in the task. Edited instructions accordingly.

Overview


This note explains how to map an FTP drive to a drive letter under Windows 7. It may also work under Windows 8 (not tested).

You can also view this note in my Evernote HOWTO folder. (any updates go in here first)

Instructions


To run ftpuse manually

1. You must have administrator privileges on the Windows computer.
2. Download free utility called FTPuse [Download]
3. Double click downloaded file and install FTPuse.
4. Ensure FTP server is available. You may experience FTP connection issues if
you have Google Chrome browser installed.
See note: HOWTO Fix FTP Connection Issue in Windows if you have any problems
with connecting to your FTP server through Windows Explorer.
5. Open a cmd box with Administrator privileges: Click Start, in Run box
type cmd and hold Ctrl + Shift and press Enter. Confirm the admin privileges
for hte cmd box.
6. Run the following command:

ftpuse x: 192.168.0.50 password /user:username

Command breakdown:
ftpuse - runs ftpuse utility
x: - the drive letter you want to assign to the FTP server
192.168.0.50 - the IP or URL of the FTP server, you will need to change
this to whatever the IP/URL of the FTP you want to access is.
password - the password to log into the FTP
/user:username - change username to the username you use to log into the
FTP.

7. All going well, you should now have a new drive letter in Windows Explorer
that will point you to the FTP server.
8. You can add this command to a batch file and easily run it whenever you need
access to the FTP in Explorer.

To run ftpuse on start up (log in)

Because FTPuse needs admin privileges to run, we need to use Task Scheduler to get it to run on startup.

1. Click Start, type Task Scheduler in the Run box and press Enter
2. Under Actions click on Create Task...
3. Type in a Name and Description for the entry then tick Run with highest
privileges.
4. Click Change User or Group button and type system. Click Check Names and it
will assign the correct value for the System user.
5. Next, click the Triggers tab, then click New... button. Set Begin the task to
"At log on".
6. Select Specific user or group and set to the correct user if it is not already
correct. Click Ok.
7. Next, click Actions tab, then New... button. Under Program/script, click the
Browse button and select C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
8. In the Add arguments (optional) area, type:

ftpuse x: 192.168.0.50 password /user:username

Change the values to suit your local drive letter, FTP server and login
credentials.
9. In Start in (optional) put C:\Program Files\FERRO Software\FtpUse or
the path to the folder that you installed ftpuse to. Click Ok. Click Ok.
10. Now when you reboot or log back in, you wont see anything happen, but ftpuse
command will be triggered in the background and you should see your FTP is
available in Windows File Explorer as a drive letter!

For more notes please see the Evernote version of this post.

References


serverfault.com - Run a .bat file in a scheduled task without a window
Evernote/cabji/HOWTOs/REF: FTP URL Structures

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