Problems with Notepad++ FTP_Synchronize Plugin

I was excited to find out recently that Notepad++ has a plug-in that will allow you to edit files on an FTP server. The plug-in, which has come with Notepad++ since v4.7, is FTP_Synchronize. Unfortunately, although I’m on Notepad++ 5.2, the plug-in did not work out of the box for me.

While I could connect to and browse my FTP server, any attempt to download a file resulted in the error “Unable to create directory for file C”. After browsing the forums and googling around, it seems that some people were able to upgrade to the latest unstable releases from CVS or reinstall Notepad++ to resolve the issue. My solution for this problem was to run Notepad++ as an administrator. When running it as admin, I found that it created the folder C:\program files\notepad++\plugins\FTP\_synchronize. This folder is where files that were being edited are cached.

After the folder was created, I changed the permissions on the folder so that the EVERYONE group had FULL CONTROL on the folder. Now, when I launch Notepad++ I can use the FTP_Synchronize plug-in without issue. An alternative method, I suppose, would be to disable UAC in Vista, but I might be one of the few geeks that kind of likes keeping it on.

Update: I’ve learned that there is an option for this plug-in that allows you to store the cached copies of the pages anywhere you like. While I haven’t tried it, storing the pages somewhere other than Program Files (such as in your documents folder) should fix this issue as well.