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The process of compressing files is not a new one. It traces it start back well into the days of MS-DOS if not before. That is all a zip is, a compressed version of a file or files. This is all done by a number of shortcuts somewhat like a shorthand version of a message. There are actually several different compression types around, however the zip format is by far the most popular of them. The fact is, in addition to the Zip compression format there are ARJ, LHZ, Microsoft compression as well as others. These zip or compression utilities come in two basic types for Windows operation, the ones that run resident on your system and those that work solely off file associations. There are good points to both depending on what you have excess of on your computer. If you have a lot of processing power, and memory, you can afford to operate the type of utility that runs all the time and maintains a standing compression of files on your system. Netzip, ZipMagic are two examples of this type of software. If you would rather not have another program running all the time, then Winzip is perhaps the better choice. I will be listing a download site below that has trial versions of the programs or the website of the program. Many of these zip utilities are not freeware. Some are shareware that needs to be registered and should be purchased after a period of time. (see the program for details) So regardless of the program you choose, most cost about $30.00 (us dollars) to purchase. However there are some freeware programs that are around from free that can also deal with compressed files. Given the number of programs available, the best I can do is point you to a site where many can be found and you can make a selection from there. Perhaps the best site for these is http://www.tucows.com which is a good site with many local mirrors to download from. Go to the type of operating system you are using, Win 3.1x, Win95/98 , Win ME, Win2000 or other. Select a local mirror by selecting what part of the world you are in, then country, then state or province, then select the closest location shown. At this point I would go to the Get Software Link and then look threw the software catagories and get a list of the software in the group I was interested in, (compression utilities in the case of zip compression) and then proceed to look over the list of programs there. You should find downloadable versions and ratings on most of the programs that will deal with zip compression. Read them carefully as some will just unzip the files, others will zip and unzip files as well as formats other than zip compression such as ARC, ARJ, LHZ, and so on. My personal choice for dealing with compressed files is Winzip, for several reasons. I would also mention that on any download you should consider to also check a site such as Infoforce which has a list of known programs with spyware dll files. These programs tend to report back use of the program to the company that markets it. Just how much information is sent is in question in some cases but still worth my mentioning it here as I know that a few of these utilities do have such as feature. Additionally, one might wish to also check the Gibson Research site for the OptOut program to remove known Spyware DLL files from your computer. However keep in mind some programs will not operate correctly once the spyware DLL is removed. Needless to say most of the Windows Zip compression utilities are self extracting and installing programs. (to work without a zip utility on your system to install them. However once install most use the assocation to be the default program that opens any file with the ZIP extention. During the install process some have option settings that should be observed and selected. Most work well on the default settings, but some options must be selected between two choices. For example, Winzip offers both a Wizard and Classicinterface for a user. I prefer the Classic myself. It should be noted when downloading a zip utility, you should retain the install file on your system. The reason for this is that if you choose or have need of re-installing it will much easier to do so. It also allows perhaps the best way to reset some of the options such as the user interface by re-installing the program. The use of most zip utilities is about the same. You generally can seek out the file that is compressed with My Computer or Windows Explorer and by clicking on it start the compression utility you are using. Then open the file and most will list the compressed files contained in it. Then go to extract, or unpack, or some simular option and it will generally ask what folder to extract the contents into the full files. Some offer to run an install routine if that is desired.At this point it should be noted, many of these utilities have a provision to virus scan the compressed file either automatically or by command in the program. Given the number of different anti virus programs available the command and path to the antivirus program used for a given set up needs to be entered. Most have built in help files to assist you with that selection and set up as well. Some programs such as Winzip will also allow you to run other extraction routines also within the Winzip interface such as ARJ, LHZ, and ARC formats. Some also support UUE (Radix 64) conversion. As far as making a compressed file, it is not a complex process either. In Winzip for example one would start Winzip, (from a system tray shortcut or desktop shortcut) and then select NEW. Then select the folder the zip is to be made in, then provide it with a name, (without extention as it will always be named zip) and then select the files to add to that zip. You can select them withwild cards or clicking on each file name either one at a time and clicking add, or, if you hold the Control (CTL) key while clicking on a file names one at a time, you can then add several at a time. With a little practice it is fairly easy to get to the point of having excellent results. Since I am speaking in the most general of terms, you will need to do a bit of trial and error testing yourself given the fact there are about 40 to 50 different compression programs available. What you can expect to see however using a compression program such as these are things like, up to 75% reduction in file size on things like text document files. (that means a 4mb text would be about 1mb after being compressed.) Compressing the files does not remove or compress the file(s) on your system, it makes a copy of it for transmission or long term storage. It can be highly useful for backup purposes of data, and most programs allow for password protected encyption of data as well. Often Winzip or other such programs prove VERY useful in transfering files between two non-networked computers via diskettes, since it is very possible to Span diskettes in the compression product with many of these programs. This would then allow a program far larger than the storage of the diskette to be transfered, and of course done so in most cases with about 33 to 50 % of the diskettes used for such a transfer. With all of this it is pretty easy to see why the process of zipping or compressing files is a worth while operation to master. The truth is most program installs are done within the zip format, but it is done with the zipped group of files to be converted to a self extracting zip file, which simply means it loads a one time use version of the compression program into the file with the compressed files, so that the program can then extract the needed data. It works well for such things as backup of data, even making master backups that can be restored back in sections, or folder by folder. Below I will include a few links to download sites for Zip utilities. Some will be free, some will be trial versions. I leave it to you to decide which best suits your needs. All should open into new browser windows so you will remain here or you can close this window once you get to the download site. http://powerarchiver.efront.com/ Freeware www.tucows.com select the region, then the operating system, then compression utilties. http://www.winzip.com/ Winzip's download site. Local Downloads of Zip Utilties. 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