A suggestion for users who have a single website that requires regular "management" - perhaps. So far as I can tell, the process works for all recent Windows versions, but I've only confirmed it (in part) for WinXP and Win2K.

With some websites you may also be able to use the WebDAV protocol, under what WinXP calls "Web Folders."

Essentially, you go to "My Network Places" in Windows Explorer and create a folder identity for the connection. Once the external site is identified as a "folder" on your machine, you can copy, paste, move, delete, etc in Windows Explorer just as if the web site was a folder on your machine.

IF YOUR FOLDER at the web site supports the required protocols, when you create the folder on your machine you can put your "username" and "password" for the external location in the "Use As" identity. The folder will show continuously in your Windows Explorer, but the connection should only open when you right click on the folder and choose "Open." If the connection is open you can right click and choose "Close."

Note that I have NOT tried this with a "web connection" but have used the "use as" connection within my own LAN and it works quite cleanly there.

At WinXP Start | Help and Support, Click "Index" at the top and enter "WebDAV," select "defined" as a topic, and you'll get a choice of a glossary definition or a "how to." If you select the "how to" you'll get a brief description, including:

"The Web server that hosts the document or folder that you want to access must support the Web Folders protocol (WebDAV) and Internet Information Services (IIS), or the Web Extender Client (WEC) protocol and FrontPage extensions. You must also have read and write access to the Web server."

Microsoft uses the term "Web Folders" to describe this method, which you can also look up in Help as above. (I note that under the Web Folders entry it does suggest that you leave "your Microsoft Firewall" turned on while connected. This should mean that your other firewall can be used while connected.)

John