Hints and Tips

Here are the hints and tips displayed by the "Tip of the Day" dialog box:

The Tip of the Day dialog is normally displayed when you start WinZip®, except when you are opening a Zip file. You can change this behavior using the combo box in the Tip of the Day dialog.

If you turn the Tip of the Day off and later want to see the tips, choose Tip of the Day from WinZip's Help menu, then choose from the combo box at the bottom of the dialog.
When you are adding files that you want to be encrypted, it is more efficient to encrypt them while adding than to encrypt them later with the Encrypt menu item.
If you forget to encrypt files when you add them, you can encrypt them later by choosing Encrypt from the Actions menu.
If you are new to Zip files, you can use the Wizard interface to walk you through the process of zipping and unzipping or installing software from Zip files, MIME files, and other encoded files. Choose Wizard from the WinZip File menu to activate the Wizard.
You can add, remove, or reorder buttons on the WinZip toolbar by right clicking on the toolbar and choosing Select Buttons.
WinZip's toolbar buttons look much better if your display is in high- or true-color mode.
Click Control Panel in the Start menu's Settings entry. Double click Display and choose the Settings tab. Choose High Color or True Color mode for Color Palette (under Windows NT 4.0 choose 65536).
For some quick lessons on how to use WinZip's main features, choose Brief Tutorial from WinZip's Help menu.
For quick zipping and unzipping, you can right click on a file listed in Windows Explorer and choose Add to Zip file or Extract to from Windows Explorer's context menu.
The WinZip QuickPick taskbar tray icon provides instant access to recently used archives, your Favorite Zip Folders, WinZip help, and WinZip itself. Learn about it here.
For answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), choose Frequently Asked Questions from WinZip's Help menu.
You can unzip all files from a Zip file without leaving Windows Explorer. Use the right mouse button to drag and drop a Zip file from an Explorer window to any folder, then choose Extract to from the context menu. Be sure to use the right mouse button while dragging.
You can extract from multiple Zip files in one operation. Simply select two or more Zip files in a Windows Explorer or My Computer window, right click one of the files, and choose one of the Extract entries in the WinZip context menu. The best choices for this operation are usually Extract to or Extract to here using filenames for folders because both of these entries allow you to use a separate folder for each Zip file. You can use the other choices, however, if you want to extract all of the files to a single folder.
You can create Zip files in Windows Explorer: right click in the Contents pane, then choose New and WinZip File. An empty Zip file will be created in the current folder.
Mailing your Zip files is easy! If you are using a MAPI-compatible mail system, you can mail Zip files using the Mail Archive entry in the WinZip File menu. Or, use the Zip and E-Mail or Zip and E-Mail Plus features from Windows Explorer's context menu to quickly zip and e-mail any file.
If you usually use the same folders when opening, extracting, or adding files, choose Configuration from WinZip's Options menu and specify the folders in the Folders tab.
You can run your virus scanner on the files inside downloaded Zip files. Choose Virus Scan from WinZip's Actions menu.
If you need to send files to users who may not have an unzip utility, try "WinZip Self-Extractor Personal Edition" (included with WinZip). The self-extractor makes files that unzip themselves. First create a Zip file, then choose Make .Exe File from the WinZip Actions menu.
To change the default WinZip window size and position to the current window size and position, choose Save Settings Now from the Options menu.
To display details about the open Zip file (for example, the date the Zip file was last modified or the name of the folder containing the Zip file), click on the WinZip status line or choose Properties from the WinZip File menu.
You can make a Zip file that spans multiple disks. Simply create a Zip file on a removable disk, then add to the Zip file as you normally would. If the disk fills up while files are being added, you will be prompted for another disk. Just insert the next disk and click the OK button.
The file listing in the main WinZip window can be quickly sorted by any of the fields displayed in the file listing. Just click on any column title to sort on it.
You can quickly extract files from a Zip file by dragging the files from WinZip to any folder or Windows Explorer window (or even to the desktop).
You can quickly add files to a Zip file by dragging the files from any folder or Windows Explorer window to WinZip.
WinZip has many features that make it easy to work with files downloaded from the Internet and online services like America Online. For a list of hints, see Hints For Working With Downloaded Files.
Besides Zip files, WinZip processes many other formats, including TAR, Z, GZ, TGZ, CAB, UUencode, BinHex, and MIME.
If you can't remember where you put your Zip files, you can use the Favorite Zip Folders feature to find them. Choose Favorite Zip Folders from the WinZip File menu.
You can easily view files in a Zip file by dragging them to an application or a shortcut to an application.
You can easily print files by dragging them to a printer icon or a shortcut to a printer. (To print a list of files in a Zip file, choose Print from WinZip's File menu.)
Zip files opened with WinZip are added to the Start menu's Documents list. To quickly open Zip files that you have recently worked with, choose Documents from the Start menu.
Note: Windows XP does not display Zip files in the Documents menu. You can use the WinZip Quick Pick taskbar tray feature to open recently used archives.
You can add selected files to a Zip file directly from Windows Explorer with complete control over the options. Right click on any file (or selected group of files) and choose Add to Zip file from the context menu.
WinZip can install software, desktop themes, and screen savers contained in Zip files. To use this feature, simply open a Zip file containing a software installation (SETUP.EXE or INSTALL.EXE), theme, or screen saver and click Install.
To open or view multiple files in an archive contents list, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking the files. Then click the View button on the toolbar to view the files or right click on any selected file to display the context menu.
WinZip displays useful information about Zip files you select in Windows Explorer. The information appears in a tooltip or, if "View as Web Page" is enabled, in the description area of the web page. The Windows Desktop Update (Active Desktop) must be installed and WinZip shell extensions enabled in order to use this feature.
Most of WinZip's major dialogs have "What's This?" help. Click on the question mark in the dialog's title bar, then click on a control for quick information about how it's used.
WinZip can automatically display the Zip comment when you open a Zip file that contains a comment. And, when the open Zip file has a comment, you can click the comment icon on the status bar to view and edit the comment.
If you like the look of Internet Explorer's toolbar, you can have the same look in WinZip. Choose Configuration from WinZip's Options menu, click the Toolbar tab, and check Use Explorer-style toolbar buttons and Use flat toolbar buttons. Uncheck Use large toolbar buttons if you'd also prefer smaller buttons.