The XP firewall has started to block FTP for no reason - no changes have been made to the exception and as soon as its turned of FTP works -

 

Have googled seemed as if a few people have had the problem - though no solid solution - any ideas?

 

Yes - the FTP client is in the exceptions

Yes - I've tried adding the ports to exceptions

Yes - I know XP firewall is crap - I've used Zone alarm and that does the same thing - plus it messes up alot of the other stuff i use

Is this for Service Pack 1 or 2? There's a big difference.

 

Do you have another firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Norton? If so then you can just turn off the Windows one, as ZA or Norton are good enough on their own.

Serivce Pack2 -

 

I have Norton Anti Virus 2005 - which i've turned off and its still being blocked - I like the protection of firewall and NAV - experience is its not great by itself.

NAV doesn't include a firewall, NIS (Norton Internet Security) does. So NAV wouldn't be blocking your FTP.

 

I'm still on SP1, and I am aware that SP2 is very different when it comes to the firewall, so I can't really help you. However FTP must be documented somewhere, try the Windows help options. Also just try browsing around all the options related to the firewall, it should be there somewhere! Maybe under 'exceptions' or 'rules' or some such.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/842242

And click: Enable programs by using Windows Firewall

 

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/dce3dc46-2581-472b-9f75-54149063c8811033.mspx?mfr=true

Click on: I cannot get my FTP program to work with Windows Firewall

 

Also from browsing through a few things like that you might want to look into PASV FTP, which I think is what your problem may be centered around.

cheers i'll look into it