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Upload and download files in Remote Web Access

  • Article

Updated: March 30, 2011

Applies To: Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

With the Remote Access Shared Folders tab, you can do the following:

  • Upload (send) files from your computer to Windows SBS 2011 Essentials.

Note

You can upload only files to Remote Web Access and not folders. If you want to have the same file and folder hierarchy in the Shared Folders on the server as on your computer, you must create the folders on the server in Remote Web Access, and then upload the files to the folder that you created. For information about creating shared folders, see Add a server folder.

  • Download (receive) files and folder from Windows SBS 2011 Essentials to your computer.

  • Create a folder within a shared folder on Windows SBS 2011 Essentials.

  • Move, delete, and rename files and folders on Windows SBS 2011 Essentials. For more information, see Move, delete, or rename files and folders in Remote Web Access.

Upload files

To upload files

  1. In Remote Web Access, click the Shared Folders tab, and then click a shared-folder link. A list of the files and folders in that shared folder is displayed.

  2. From the shared-folder list of files and folders, click the folder where you want to upload the file to, and then click Upload.

  3. If the standard upload tool is not already loaded, click Use the standard upload method.

  4. Click Browse to find a file on your computer.

  5. Navigate through the folders on your computer to find the file that you want to upload, and then click Open.

  6. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each file that you want to upload.

  7. When you have added all of the files that you want to upload, click Upload.

The easy file upload tool streamlines the process of uploading files on your Windows SBS 2011 Essentials server. With the easy file upload tool, you can add as many files as you want to the easy file upload tool using the drag-and-drop feature, and then upload them to the Shared Folders on the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials server.

To upload files using the easy file upload tool

  1. In Remote Web Access, click the Shared Folders tab, and then click a shared-folder link. A list of the files and folders in that shared folder is displayed.

  2. From the shared-folder list of files and folders, click the folder where you want to upload the files to, and then click Upload. If the folder that you want to upload to does not exist, click New folder, type the name of the new folder in the dialog box, and then click OK.

  3. You may need to run the Windows Server Solutions add-on. If so, click in the yellow strip at the top of the screen, click run Add-on, and then click Run in the dialog box.

  4. If the easy file upload tool is not already loaded, click Use the easy file upload tool.

  5. You can drag-and-drop files from Windows Explorer to the easy file upload tool, or click browse to select files.

  6. When you finish adding the files that you want to upload to the selected folder, click Upload.

  7. When the files are uploaded successfully, click Close.

Download files or folders

To download a single file

  1. In Remote Web Access, click the Shared Folders tab, and then click a shared-folder link. A list of the files and folders in that shared folder is displayed.

  2. From the shared-folder file list, click the check box next to the file that you want to download to your home computer.

  3. Click Download to begin the download.

  4. On the File Download dialog box, click Save to save the file to your computer.

  5. In the Save As dialog box, select the location to save the file, and then click Save. A single file, it is not compressed before it is downloaded.

There are two options for downloading multiple files or folders. Choose the option that fits your needs:

Note

These options are available only when you are downloading multiple files or folders to your computer.

  • Self-extracting executable file (.exe)

    A self-extracting executable file is a file that you can download that combines the decompression (executable) program with the compressed files. When you run the executable program, it automatically decompresses the compressed files (self-extracting). This is a common way to distribute compressed data without worrying about whether the recipient has the right decompression utility.

Note

This option supports Unicode characters.

  • Windows Compressed folder (.zip)

    Zipping a file creates a compressed version of the file that is smaller than the original file. The zipped version of the file has a .zip file extension. File types that are reduced the most by zipping are text-oriented file types, such as .txt, .doc, .xls, and graphics files that use non-compressed file types such as .bmp. Some graphic files, such as .jpg and .gif files, already use compression, and the file size is reduced very little by zipping. Also, a Word document that contains a lot of graphics is not reduced as much as a document that is mostly text.

Note

This option provides limited support for international file names.

Before the actual download begins, the exe or zip file is created. Depending on the number of files and the total size of the files to be downloaded, this may take several minutes. After the download file is created, downloading the file occurs in the background. This allows you to continue working while the download process completes.

To download multiple files or folders

  1. In Remote Web Access, click the Shared Folders tab, and then click a shared-folder link. A list of the files and folders in that shared folder is displayed.

  2. From the shared-folder file list, click the check box next to the files or folders that you want to download to your home computer.

  3. Click Download to begin the download.

  4. On the Choose a Download Format dialog box, click to select the download format option that you prefer, and then click OK. The compressed file is prepared in the format option that you selected.

  5. On the File Download dialog box, click Save to save the file to your computer.

  6. In the Save As dialog box, select the location to save the file, and then click Save.

Retrieve compressed files downloaded to your computer

If you select multiple files or folders to download, you can receive a self-extracting compressed executable file (.exe) or a compressed (.zip) file.

To retrieve a file from the compressed (.exe) file

  1. On your computer, double-click the compressed file to open it.

  2. Follow the instructions to extract the files to a folder on your computer.

To retrieve a file from the compressed (.zip) file

  1. On your computer, double-click the compressed file to open it.

  2. Select the files that you want to retrieve, and then drag the files to a folder on your computer where you want to store them.

Note

If you use a third-party file compression program, follow the procedures for that program to extract your files from the compressed file.