How to Compress or Unzip Files
Compressed files are a common way to move information over networks. Depending on the type of file, the compression ratio can be as high as 90 to 1, though 4 to 1 is more common. There are several compression algorithms, with the most common being LZW, which creates "ZIP" archive files. Other compression algorithms include RAR and SFT.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Uncompressing and Compressing Files on a Windows PC
-
1
If the file is a .zip file, it can be opened (uncompressed) in any version of Windows from Windows XP onward. Simply put your cursor on the file and right-click the mouse. One option will be "Extract all files." Alternatively, double-click on the file, Windows will open it as a folder and you can cut and paste from it normally.
-
2
If the file is a different kind of compressed archive, go to website tucows.com and enter that archive type into the search engine. You will find any number of freeware and shareware files you can use to open the archive. WinRAR can handle a number of archive formats and is very fast.
-
-
3
To compress files on a PC, select the file and right-click. One option will be "Send to Compressed Folder," which sends the file to a freshly made zip archive. If you do this on a directory, the directory and all of its contents (including subdirectories) are bundled into the zip archive.
-
1
