Hosting service does not allow exe files

is this common?

[Ed_Gibbon]

I have a large PDF file that I want to allow vistors to download. Since it's large, it makes sense to make a ZIP of it. Since many people don't have an unzipping utility, a self-extracting zip EXE file is also a good option . . . but my web-hosting service does not allow files with EXE extensions. Is there any way around this? Do any other web-hosting services have this prohibition of EXE files?

Thanks

[rzfree]

Hi Ed
Recently I was searching new host for software co. Leaving aside aspects like reliability and support, my experience is that "unlimited transfer" hosting services or hosting plans usually won't allow downloads. Even if there's no mention in TOS, good thing is to write and ask before signing up. Some allow unlimited downloads after you prove the legitimacy of the content, some have restrictions like "downloads must originate from the own site only"... Finally we decided that safest will be to pay for GBytes.
Your case may be different, try to talk to them first.
R

[JamesR]

yes, it is common. Those files are bandwidth hogs. Many will allow them but won't cover them in your bandwidth allocation...you will end up paying for the extra bandwidth.

[NFFC]

My man will not allow .exe files full stop. This is fairly recent and I think a reaction to the spate of MS/nimba related stuff, it may even be a component of a security fix AFAIK.

[Crazy_Fool]

.exe files can be stored on servers for downloading, or they can be run on the server as executables just the same as CGI scripts etc. i provide hosting that allows .exe files to run from the CGI bin on both linux and windows. you may find your web host is telling you that your server does not allow .exe files to run as executables rather than does not allow hosting of .exe files for download.

i would suggest you use an ftp link to the file instead of an http link - this should force a download whereas an http link will almost certainly try to run the .exe file. your server may need to be set to allow anonymous ftp. the link will be of the form <a href="ftp://yourdomain/filename.exe">

if an ftp log in is required, you will need to provide the log in details. the link will be of the form <a href="ftp://ftpusername:ftppassword@yourdomain/filename.exe">. of course, this creates a little security issue ...

a better option might be to save the file online as a .zip that people can download and open with winzip. provide a link for them to download winzip if they haven't got it. you might also like to make the unzipped file available for those who can't be bothered to install winzip.

[Ed_Gibbon]

you may find your web host is telling you that your server does not allow .exe files to run as executables rather than does not allow hosting of .exe files for download.

Thanks for all the info. My problem is that when I try to load the EXE onto my web host's server, I get an error message of "file type not allowed" -- so it's not a question of downloading the file from or running the file on the server.

See, my site used to be a free Geocites site, and I upgraded it to Geocities "Pro" when it went beyond the monthly data transfer allowed in the free service. But it is still Geocities, which in many ways is a sort of "training wheels" webhost.

In the future I will probably change hosting services, but for now I still get a lot of hits from my old geocites address in addition to hits to my new URL -- as long as the site is hosted by Geocites both addresses resolve to the same URL.

[Key_Master]

One thing you can try Ed if your site is hosted on a UNIX server (and this is a long shot) is add:

AddType application/octet-stream foo

to your .htaccess file. Then rename the files as filename.foo (foo could be renamed something else if you like). If it works, it should work just like an .exe extension would although I don't know exactly how different browsers would react to the extension. Might be worth a try as a last resort effort.