Trouble with ftp_get function

I'm sorry if this has already been asked before... I am trying to make a small ftp app using this line to download files: if( !ftp_get( $conn_id , "C:\thefile.txt" , $HTTP_GET_VARS['file'] , FTP_BINARY ) ) $error = true; I know I have a connection, and $HTTP_GET_VARS['file'] is the path of the file I want to download. I always get this error: ftp_get(): Error opening C:/thefile.txt in /main.php on line 97 I have searched all over trying numerous different scripts to try and figure out what is wrong. Does anybody have any ideas? thanks, Benjamin