Windows Guide

Guide to ZIP Files

In earlier versions of Windows, you had to install a ZIP archiving program such as Winzip to create ZIP archives or extract files from ZIP archives. In Windows XP, this feature is now included in Windows Explorer and is very easy to use.

How to create ZIP files

  1. Open Windows Explorer
  2. Select File, New, Compressed (zipped) Folder.
  3. If this feature is not available, then open a command prompt and enter the following line:
    REGSVR32 C:\Windows\System32\ZIPFLDR.DLL (use the /U to remove the feature)
  4. Rename the folder if you wish but keep the .ZIP extension.
  5. Copy and paste the files you wish to compress in to your new folder.
  6. The Zip file is then ready to use!

How to extract files from a ZIP file

  1. Open Windows Explorer and locate your ZIP file.
  2. Double click the ZIP file to view the contents of the ZIP file.
  3. Select the files you wish to extract and paste them to another directory.
  4. Alternatively, if you wish to extract all files, select the file, right click it and select Extract All from the pop up menu.

How to create a ZIP file

  1. Open Windows Explorer and select a folder where the files are.
  2. Right click a blank area and select New and Compressed (zipped) folder.
  3. Rename the zipped folder to the appropiate name e.g. Files.zip
  4. Drag and drop the files on to the zipped folder, or copy the files and paste them inside the folder.
  5. The zipped file is now created, you can then pass it onto someone else to extract the contents from it.

How to use the PowerShell to create or extract ZIP files

  1. Open the Windows PowerShell program.
  2. Change directory to where the ZIP files using CD or Set-Location.
  3. To create a ZIP file use the Compress-Archive cmdlet
    1. E.g. Compress-Archive -Path myfile.exe -DestinationPath myarchive.zip
  4. To extract files from a ZIP file, use the Expand-Archive cmdlet.
      1. Expand-Archive -Path myarchive.zip -DestinationPath foldername.

Alternative Archives programs for ZIP and other formats

  1. 7-Zip from http://www.7-Zip.org.
  2. WinZip from https://www.winzip.com .
  3. WinRAR from https://www.win-rar.com/ .
  4. ZipGenius from https://www.nchsoftware.com .

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