Zipping

Think of a sleeping bag. To store it or transport it you squeeze it into a small bag. When you want to use it you take it out of the small bag. Zipping file/s is the same idea. To store or transport file/s you squeeze them into a small package called a zip file. To use them you expand them from the zip file back to their full size.

This is useful for backing up your precious data and for emailing files because smaller files take up less space and take less time to email.

Zip discs were designed specifically for use in backing up and transferring data from one PC to another. Zip discs have been replaced with pen drives which hold gigabytes of data, more than a CD or DVD.

Zip and Unzip are two programs from the old DOS days. They have been replaced by WinZip, currently version 11. You will find it on nearly every computer magazine free CD. WinZip enables you to squeeze a file or many files, with or without folders, into one zip file. Typically, wordprocessed files take up about a quarter of the space when zipped. Pictures do not squeeze up as much but the size savings are worth the effort.

Once zipped, this zip file may be placed on a pen drive, saved in another folder on your hard disc as a safe second copy or emailed.

Take a look at Backing Up to take the drudgery out of backing up your data. It will also ensure that you don’t miss things which you save in other odd places on the hard disc.

To make a zip file, open WinZip. Select New, navigate to the folder where you want to put the zip file and give the zip file a name e.g. stuff. WinZip will add .zip to the name and call it stuff.zip. The Add dialog box will open. Navigate to the folder containing the file/s you want to zip. Un-tick all the boxes in the bottom of the dialog box, then highlight your selected file/s and click Add. Your zip file is made. Close WinZip.

To extract a file or files from a zip file, double-click the zip file. WinZip will open the zip file and display the file/s within. Highlight the file/s you want to extract and click Extract. The Extract dialog box will open. In Files, make sure the Selected files button is clicked and all other boxes are un-ticked. In the Folders/Drives box, navigate to the folder where you want to put the extracted file/s click Extract. Close WinZip.