Zip files are compressed files. You can store documents, pictures, folders, and more in a zip file. When the files, documents, or folders are placed into the zip file, they are also compressed. Using zip files, you can lower the amount of disk space needed to store one or more other files. Using programs like Windows Explorer, you can also access zip files, as well as the files stored within them. Zip files can be copied to diskettes, to writable CDs, to the Internet, and more. You can share them with others who are using Windows 7 or even with people using another operating system. While Microsoft Windows 7 can directly work with zip files, you should be aware that versions older than Windows XP cannot. Rather, people using other operating systems will need to install a zip program such as PKZIP. Once installed, they will be able to access the items in a zip file. The following steps show you how to create a zip file:
1. Select My Computer from the Start menu. This displays the My Computer dialog window that lists the main folders and drives on your computer.
2. Double-click the drive or folder where you want to create the compressed zip file. This opens the folder or drive.
3. Continue to click into folders until you get to the location where you want to place the zip file.
4. Select File > New > Compress (zipped) file from the menus. This creates a new zip file. You’ll see that the default name of New Compressed (zipped) Folder.zip is used and that the name is highlighted right after you edited it.
5. Type in a new name for the zip file. Include .zip as the extension. If you don’t include the .zip as part of the name, you will get a warning message. At this point, you have created the new zip file and have given it a name. You can treat this file like a normal Windows 7 folder.
You can add documents, files, and folders to a zip file in the same way you add items to a regular folder. This includes dragging and dropping items into the zip file.
Windows 7 Zip files can contain compressed files, documents, and folders. A single zip file can contain as many items as you want. You can access the items within the zip file to view them, and you can extract items from a zip file to use them. Newer versions of files or other items can be copied into a zip file, or you can add completely new files, documents, or folders. The following steps walk you through some of the ways for accessing a zip file to add or update items and to extract individual files:
1. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and navigate to the zip file you want to access.
2. Double-click on the name of the zip file. This opens the file and displays its contents in a new window. The contents are displayed just as the contents of any folder would be displayed.
3. Click on the file you want to manipulate, then do one of the following steps:
4. Update a file in a zip file by dragging and dropping a new copy onto the zip file or into the opened zip file folder. If the file exists in the zip file, you are asked to confirm that you want to update the file. Select the appropriate answer from the prompt.
Windows 7 Zipped files are compressed folders that can contain files, documents, and other folders. While you can view what is in a zip file, if you want to change any of those items, you need to extract the item out of the zip. Extracting the files uncompresses them to another location on your computer. You may want to extract the items from a zip file that you downloaded from the Internet or that you received from someone else. Regardless of where the zip file came from, you can extract the items using the following steps:
1. Use My Computer or Windows Explorer to locate the zip file you want to extract files from.
2. Click on the zip filename to select it. Don’t double-click, only singleclick to highlight the filename.
3. Select File > Extract All from the menus. The Extraction Wizard appears.
4. Click the Next button. This takes you to the next page of the Windows 7 Extraction Wizard.
5. Enter a folder name (directory) in which to place the extracted files. The default name will be the same as the zip file, and the folder will be placed in the current location.
6. Click the Next button. If the zip file has a password associated with it, or if any of the items have a password, a dialog is displayed. Enter the password into this dialog and click OK. The files are extracted and placed at the location entered in the wizard. The indicator at the bottom of the page shows you the status of the files being extracted. When all the files are extracted, you are presented with the Extraction Complete page of the wizard.
7. Select or unselect the Show Extracted Files option. If this option is selected, when you finish the wizard, Windows Explorer is opened, displaying the folder (directory) containing your extracted files.
8. Click the Finish button. If you selected the Show Extracted Files option, a Windows Explorer window opens as described in the previous step. If you did not select Show Extracted Files, the wizard ends and your files are simply extracted to the location you indicated without any display.
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