Zip

Windows users will see this term a lot when looking for files on the Internet. A zip file (.zip) is a “zipped” or compressed file. For example, when you download a file, if the filename looks like this: “filename.zip,” you are downloading a zipped file. “Zipping” a file involves compressing one or more items into a smaller archive. A zipped file takes up less hard drive space and takes less time to transfer to another computer. This is why most Windows files that you find on the Internet are compressed.

To use a zipped file, you’ll need to unzip it first.PKZIP for DOS, or WinZip for Windows, are some popular programs that can unzip files for you.

Most software that you download from the Internet will arrive as a self-extracting zip file. Typically, by double-clicking on a self-extracting zip file, it will automatically extract, decompress, and store the individual files. One of these files is usually called the “setup.exe” file. Double-clicking on this file will cause the software to be installed as a selectable program in your operating system.

Uses for Zip files

Typical uses for Zip files include:

• Distributing files on the Internet: Only one download is required to obtain all related files, and file transfer is quicker because the archived files are compressed.
• Sending a group of related files to an associate: When you distribute a collection of files as a single Zip file, you benefit from the file grouping as well as compression.
• Saving disk space: If you have large files that are important but seldom used, such as large data files, simply compress the files into a Zip file and then unzip (or “extract”) them only when needed.

How can I create a winzip file?

To create a new Zip file, open WinZip in the WinZip Wizard mode. (If the WinZip Wizard does not open by default, just click the Wizard button in the toolbar.) You will be asked “What do you want to do?” Simply select “Create a new Zip file” and click Next. The WinZip Wizard will guide you through the entire process.

When you become more familiar with Zip file operations, you can also try the WinZip Classic interface. The Classic interface offers many advanced features that are not available in the WinZip Wizard. Using the Classic interface, you can split large Zip files into smaller parts to overcome e-mail and other size limits; view, extract, and run individual files in a Zip file; remove files from an existing Zip file; encrypt your confidential files so that they can’t be used without a password; and much more. To try the Classic interface, simply click the WinZip Classic button in the WinZip Wizard.

Here are some of the things you can do using drag and drop:

• Compress files and folders by dragging them to a Zip file. It doesn’t matter where the Zip file is: it could be open in a WinZip window; it could be listed in an Explorer window; it could be an icon on the desktop; it could even be showing in the Open File listing of an application. It doesn’t matter where the files and folders you want to add are, either. If you can see the Zip file and what you want to add to it, just drag and drop, and WinZip does the rest.
• Add files to the archive of your choice by dragging them to the WinZip desktop icon.
• Extract files from a Zip file by dragging them from a WinZip window to the folder of your choice.
• Extract all of the files from a Zip file by dragging it with the right mouse button to a folder or folder icon.
• Open or view files in a Zip file by dragging them from the WinZip window to the appropriate application icon or window.
• Print files from a Zip file by dragging them to a printer or printer icon.

And you can perform the most-needed Zip operations using Explorer context menus, too; just select the items of interest (files, folders, or Zip files), right click, and:

• Add the items to a Zip file. You can choose an automatically named Zip file, a Zip file of your own choosing (including new ones), or you can pick from a list of recently used Zip files.
• Zip and E-Mail the selected items.

If the selected item is a Zip file, you can:

• Extract files. You can extract to the current folder, an automatically named subfolder, any of a list of recently used folders, or any folder of your choice. You can even extract from multiple Zip files in one operation by selecting them all before right-clicking.
• Print a listing of the files contained in the Zip file.
• Convert the Zip file to a self-extracting Zip file.
• Encrypt the Zip file using either AES encryption or standard Zip 2.0 encryption.

The WinZip Wizard is ideal for first-time and casual WinZip users. When you gain confidence or want to use more advanced zipping features, the more powerful WinZip Classic interface is just a mouse click away.