If you have a Windows 2003 Server that has the FTP Service and you’re using Windows Firewall to protect the server, Passive Mode will not function property for the FTP Clients.   I ran into this with a Virtual Server that we have hosted and I couldn’t find an option to enable it.  That’s because Passive and Active modes are always enabled.  What you have to do is open a set of ports for Passive mode to work through the firewall.  The standard FTP port (21) is actually the control port and in Passive Mode, the server controls what port the data will be transmitted between the server and client.  This is something the server tells the client and then the client tries to connect to it.

I was using Filezilla to connect to the FTP server and it connection (lots of successful commands, including the username and password), but it would stop at the List function.

So here’s a site that explains all that you need to do to make Passive FTP connection work: http://www.newagedigital.com/cgi-bin/newagedigital/articles/ms-firewall-ftp.html

Here are some other helpful sites on the matter:

• Active FTP vs. Passive FTP, a Definitive Explanation - http://slacksite.com/other/ftp.html
• Troubleshooting Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2 -  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357/
• Microsoft Technet: PassivePortRange Metabase Property (IIS 6.0) - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/d2405f36-06c3-4468-a8b0-eb0442ed1889.mspx?mfr=true
• Microsoft Support: How To Configure PassivePortRange In IIS - http://support.microsoft.com/?id=555022