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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
July 23, 2006
Q. In last week's column you
suggest zipping a file to attach it to an
email to get around some email programs
filtering. So what is a zip file, and how do
I make one?
A. Sometimes I forget that not everyone
is familiar with all the computer terms, and
just assume that some of them are
understood. So, here's the scoop on ZIP
files.
Zipping
is the act of packaging a set of one or more
files into a single file or archive that is
called a zip file. Usually, the files in a
zip file are compressed so that they take up
less space in storage or take less time to
send to someone. The result of zipping is a
single file with a ".zip" extension.
The
amount of compressing (reducing in size)
depends on the type of files included. JPG
files, which are already compressed, will not
be compressed much more. Bit mapped
files like BMP or TIF, and most word
processing files will be compressed
considerably. The compression done when
zipping is called "Lossless", meaning that
everything is retained and the files will
return to their original size and form when
the zip file is unzipped.
Zipping a
single file or group of files makes emailing
or otherwise handling them much easier
because they can be handled as a single file
instead of many individual files. Zip files can also usually be sent
and received as email attachments without
being blocked by email filters because Zip
files cannot be executed without first
unzipping them.
The
format was originally designed by Phil Katz
for
PKZIP back in the days of the DOS
operating system. Now, there are several
popular tools that can be used for zipping
files other than the old PKZIP for the DOS
operating system. WinZip is probably the
most popular of these for Windows, although
it is loosing popularity now that it is no
longer shareware but requires registering.
Microsoft
has also included minimal built-in zip
support that they call "Compressed Folders"
in its Windows XP operating system. So, if
you are using Windows XP, you can easily
create your own zip files without any other
program.
Here's how.
Let's
say you have 6 or 7 pictures or any
other kind of files that you want to
send to someone.
1.
Highlight all of them by either holding
down the CTRL key to select them
individually, or the Shift key to select
them inclusively.
2. RIGHT click on any one of the
highlighted files, and select "Send To"
from the menu.
3.
Select "Compressed (zipped) Folder"
4. If
you have another zipping program
installed that is associated with a zip
file, (like WinZip) you will get a
message asking you if you want to
associate zip files with the XP
compressing (zipping) program.
If
you click no, (recommended) the .zip
extension will remain associated with
your installed zipping program. If you
click
yes, (Not recommended) then XP's
Compressing (zipping) program will be
associated with .zip files, instead of
your installed zipping program.
5. In
either case in 4 above, or if
you do not have another zipping program
installed, a zip folder will be created
in the same folder where the original
pictures/files are located. This new zip folder/file
will, by default, have the same name as the longest
(most characters) filename it contains,
but its extension will be replaced with .zip.
You can of course, rename it to anything
you like as long as it retains the .zip
extension.
Any
zip file created by XP's Compressed
(zipped) program will be equivalent to
any other zip file. If no other zipping
program is installed, zip files are
treated like a
folder by XP. Files can be copied to
and from it using the normal copy/paste or drag
and drop methods.
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