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<blockquote data-quote="PenguinKing" data-source="post: 94531" data-attributes="member: 2817">Not file-sharing, really - just a different protocol.Y'see, the Internet operates on a number of different &quot;protocols&quot;, or sets of rules that govern how information is transfered between computers, and interpretted by the computer that receives it.&nbsp; The most common is hypertext transfer protocol, or http.&nbsp; That's what you use to view hypertext documents - more commonly known as web pages.&nbsp; ftp, or file transfer protocol, is a different protocol that's used for transfering files directly between two computers.How you access a server that uses file transfer protocol depends on your system, I suppose - some browsers (like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) can handle one-way ftp on their own; just type an ftp URL into the address bar and go.&nbsp; That won't let you do much besides enact a one-way transfer of files from the ftp server to your computer, but since you're just looking for downloads, it'll do.If your browser doesn't support the ftp protocol, however, I'm not sure what you could do.&nbsp; The easiest answer would be to install an FTP client program, but I'm not sure if WebTV can install software like that.(You said he gave you a number, tho'?&nbsp; Was it four sets of numbers separated by periods?&nbsp; For example: 204.124.62.93.&nbsp; That's called an &quot;Internet Protocol address&quot;, or more commonly, &quot;IP addy&quot;.&nbsp; You use it just like a URL - in fact, when you type a URL into a browser, all your computer does is to go to a directory and look up what the IP addy associated with that URL is.&nbsp; Think of it like a website's phone number.&nbsp; If you have an IP addy but not a URL, you can still get into the website - it's just like having someone's phone number, but not their name.)&nbsp;- Sir Bob.P.S. Nih!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="PenguinKing, post: 94531, member: 2817"] Not file-sharing, really - just a different protocol. Y'see, the Internet operates on a number of different "protocols", or sets of rules that govern how information is transfered between computers, and interpretted by the computer that receives it. The most common is [i]hypertext transfer protocol[/i], or http. That's what you use to view hypertext documents - more commonly known as web pages. ftp, or [i]file transfer protocol[/i], is a different protocol that's used for transfering files directly between two computers. How you access a server that uses file transfer protocol depends on your system, I suppose - some browsers (like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) can handle one-way ftp on their own; just type an ftp URL into the address bar and go. That won't let you do much besides enact a one-way transfer of files from the ftp server to your computer, but since you're just looking for downloads, it'll do. If your browser [i]doesn't[/i] support the ftp protocol, however, I'm not sure what you could do. The easiest answer would be to install an FTP client program, but I'm not sure if WebTV can install software like that. (You said he gave you a number, tho'? Was it four sets of numbers separated by periods? For example: 204.124.62.93. That's called an "Internet Protocol address", or more commonly, "IP addy". You use it just like a URL - in fact, when you type a URL into a browser, all your computer does is to go to a directory and look up what the IP addy associated with that URL is. Think of it like a website's phone number. If you have an IP addy but not a URL, you can still get into the website - it's just like having someone's phone number, but not their name.) - Sir Bob. P.S. Nih! [/QUOTE]

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