Compressing Files

When you "zip" files, PowerZip compresses them and places them in a file called an archive. When compressing files, you can either add files to an existing archive or create a new archive.

PowerZip offers you several different ways to zip. You can zip from within the PowerZip application or directly from within Windows Explorer / My Computer. Different ways of zipping may be more convenient or quicker in different situations.

To add files to an existing archive:

  1. Open the archive in PowerZip by clicking on the Open button on PowerZip's toolbar
  2. Click on the Zip button on PowerZip's toolbar or click on the arrow next to the Zip button and choose "Add files to the current archive" or press Ctrl+P
  3. Follow the steps in the Compression Wizard

or

  1. Open the archive in PowerZip by clicking on the Open button on PowerZip's toolbar
  2. Open Windows Explorer (My Computer) and find the files you wish to compress
  3. Select the files, drag them and drop them into the PowerZip window
  4. Follow the steps in the Compression Wizard

To create a new archive:

  1. Click on the Zip button on PowerZip's toolbar or click on the arrow next to the Zip button and choose "Create a new archive" or press Ctrl+N
  2. When prompted, browse to the folder where you would like to place the archive
  3. Select the desired archive type (Zip archive is the recommended type)
  4. Type the archive name
  5. Press Next and follow the remaining steps in the Compression Wizard

or

  1. Open Windows Explorer (My Computer) and find the files you wish to compress
  2. Select the files, drag them and drop them into the PowerZip window
  3. Follow steps 2 to 5 above

or

  1. Open Windows Explorer (My Computer) and find the files you wish to compress
  2. Select the files and right-click on one of them
  3. Select one of the Zip items from the menu

NOTE: PowerZip only provides read-only support for Lzh, Z, Ace and Rar archive formats. You will not be able to create or modify the archive of these types. Also, you cannot modify Tar, Tar.Gz, Tar.Bz2 and Cab archives and multi-disk Zip archives once they have been created.

See Also: Opening Archives