About Zip Files

What is a Zip file, anyhow?

Zip files are "archives" used for distributing and storing files. Zip files contain one or more files. Usually the files "archived" in a Zip file are compressed to save space. Zip files make it easy to group files and make transporting and copying these files faster.

Why do people use Zip files?

Zip files save time and space, and make downloading software and transferring e-mail attachments faster. Typical uses for Zip files include:

• Most files available on web and ftp sites and from online services like America Online are distributed as archives. Two benefits of using archives for electronic file distribution are that only one file transfer operation ("download") is required to obtain all related files, and time necessary for the file transfer is shorter, because the files in an archive are compressed into a smaller size.
• It is often useful to send a group of related files to a friend or associate. Rather than distributing individual files, it is often easier to distribute the files as an archive to benefit from the file grouping and compression.
• Some files are important but used infrequently. To save disk space, simply compress these files into an archive when they are not used, and decompress them only when needed.

Where does WinZip® fit in?

WinZip makes it easy for Windows users to work with archives. It features an intuitive, point-and-click, drag-and-drop interface for viewing, running, extracting, adding, deleting, and testing files in archives, using a standard Windows interface. WinZip provides the same "friendly face" for many archive formats.