About This Lesson
Everything You Need To Know About Files
People can use zip files for many different purposes. Split archives, encryption, and file compression are a few clicks away for someone who understands the different things they can accomplish with zip archives. Zip archives work the same way as a folder in windows except that they compress the content inside the file to reduce storage use. Zip files come into play when someone wants to zip up several files into a single folder and send it via email. Along with the convenience of archiving all those files in separate folders, a zip archive compresses them to reduce storage use and make it quick and easier to transmit them over the internet.
How to Unzip and Zip Folders and Files
With windows, no extra software program is needed to learn how to unzip a file. As such, don’t waste resources downloading any software for the purpose of zipping and unzipping your folders. The process for creating a zip file is similar to creating a new folder. You can move a zip folder to any location on the computer after creating it. After creating the zip file, select and drag the data into the folder. You don’t have to delete or remove files from their original location while copying them into the zip folder. You can backup, transfer, or do anything else with the zipped files.
The Advanced Features
While Windows has features that allow zipping and unzipping files, a third-party software program may be necessary for doing anything beyond that. A bunch of applications out there offers extra features for zipping and unzipping files but look for the feature-packed, most lightweight, and efficient software program. There are free file archiving apps that comes with all the options needed for files zipping and unzipping. Installation of file archiving software programs is straightforward as users need to accept the license agreement and click next to install the software.
Encryption
Zip file encryption is necessary when one wants to restrict who can access files in the zip archive. However, use strong passwords to make dictionary attacks and brute force useless. One has to choose between AES-256 and ZipCrypto encryption to create a zip file. Though ZipCrypto is somehow weak, it has fewer capability issues compared to AES-256 encryption. AES-256, on the other hand, is stronger but only works on new devices. The name of a file can be as crucial as the content inside the folder. It may be necessary to encrypt the name of a file to make it impossible for everyone to see the content in archived data. Experts recommend the use of 7z file extension over zip archives in such a scenario.
Splitting Archives to Volumes
Perhaps you want to transfer a 1GB file from a folder to two CDs. The maximum data that a CD can hold is 700MB, meaning you would need at least two discs. Splitting the file so that it can fit the available space is what matters, and that’s when 7-Zip become useful. It lets users customize the size of the storage they would like their volumes split into. However, 7-Zip or any other software that can open up split archives may be required because Windows can’t. All the pieces of a split archive must be in the same location for it to open. Open up the file first, then use 7-Zip to combine them before extracting the data. The better compression rate is another reason anyone would prefer 7-Zip over the built utility. One thing that makes the process take longer than usual is going above normal when compressing large volumes of files with slower computer devices. The best option for anyone who wants to save as much storage space as possible is to maintain the average compression level. However, sometimes that extra storage space can be a big deal, so consider this option for such scenarios.
