A Description of Windows Movie Maker's Send Movie to a Web Server Feature (274565)

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The Send the Movie to a Web Server feature may be the most feasible way for many users to distribute their movies. This feature enables larger files to be uploaded and either streamed or downloaded to the recipient. With this feature users can choose from several streaming service providers or upload the contents onto their own Web sites.

The user can access this feature by pointing to Send Movie to, and then clicking Web Server; or on the shortcut bar, pointing to Send, and then clicking Web Server. The user is prompted with the same dialog for profile setting and file information as for saving the file locally. The movie is created and the Send To Web dialog is displayed.

By default, the In My Home Page folder is selected and POPCast is listed in the host name field. The host name field is a drop-down list box that lists sites that are contracted to provide service to Microsoft users. This list is contained in the Ftpinfo.dat file, located in C:\Program Files\Movie Maker.

The backup for this file is the Ftpinfo.shp file, located in the same directory. If the Ftpinfo.dat file is damaged, Windows Movie Maker can refer to the Ftpinfo.shp file automatically. The Ftpinfo.dat file is updated every time the user chooses to post a file to a Web server or the Sign me up button is used.


When you click Sign me up, the following Microsoft Web site opens:


The preceding Web site contains links to several sites that provide Web hosting for videos.

The New button enables users to add their own Web server to host their movies. This information is stored in the Ftpinfo.cst file, located in C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) posting for loading video, but it can be configured to use passive FTP semantics. Passive FTP semantics is used to bypass certain firewalls by making a request that the server listen to a certain port instead of initiating a connection. The server responds with the port it is listening to and the client responds on that port.

The Request for Comments (RFC) 959 (Declarations section) covers the implementation of this feature of the FTP protocol.