Zipping and Unzipping Files

Table of Contents

• The Zipping/Unzipping Process
• WinRAR
• Menu Icons
• Changing the Default Format
• Associating File Extensions
• Self-Extraction vs. Manual Extraction
• Extracting/Unzipping Files Using the Wizard Tool
• Compressing/Zipping Files Using the Wizard Tool

The Process

Zipping

When you work with computers, and particularly the Internet, sooner or later you’ll need to unzip a file. Zipped files have been highly compressed in order to reduce the file size. You’ll hear people refer to this compression process as zipping, packing, or archiving files. Multiple files may be bundled together into one compact zipped file. The compression process not only minimizes the space required for storage, it enables faster, more efficient transmission of data over the Internet. Rather than sending multiple larger files, you send one compressed file.

Unzipping

To access any of the zipped files that have been archived, you must go through the extraction process. This process is often referred to as unzipping, unpacking, or decompressing files. If all runs smoothly, and it usually does, your files will be unzipped and appear as individual files once again.

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WinRAR

There are a number of software programs in the marketplace capable of zipping and unzipping files. Most of them have been around for a fairly long time and the majority have had the ‘bugs’ worked out. You should find the zipping and unzipping process straightforward and fairly reliable.

The program that is recommended and supported here at Vancouver Island University is called WinRAR. It has a powerful, built-in wizard that enables a new user to easily master the steps necessary to compress or extract files.

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Menu Icons

The menu bar in WinRAR looks like the following image:

If you are familiar with other compression and extraction programs, you’ll likely find that the menu icons make sense to you. If you’re new to the process, then you’ll likely want to make use of the ‘Wizard’ tool. The Wizard will guide you through various processes in a step-by-step fashion. Later on, when you become more familiar with the program, you may want to access the various program components through the use of the menu bar icons.

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Changing the Default Format

When WinRAR creates a zipped file, it will save it with an RAR extension. That is the native or default format for the program. Most people are more familiar with the commonly used ZIP extension. WinRAR can save to the ZIP format, however, you must change the default settings in order for it to do so. Follow these steps:

1. Click on Setting/Options



You’ll see the following screen appear:

2. Change the setting to ZIP (as indicated in the image above) and choose the compression you require.

3. Click on the ‘OK’ button. The archive format for all the zipped files should now be ZIP.

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Associating File Extensions

WinRAR is associated with a number of file formats. That means that you can double-click any files with those extensions and they’ll automatically spawn the WinRAR program. The following input screen can be accessed by clicking on ‘Options/Setting/Integration:

You can deselect a format by clicking the checkbox. Under the section entitled ‘Interface’ you can choose to add WinRAR to your Desktop or Start Menu.

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Self-extraction vs. Manual Extraction

There are two types of compressed files that you'll come across when you are downloading from the Internet.

Self-extracting Files

Files that can decompress themselves without the aid of another piece of software.

These files usually have a EXE file extension (e.g. games.exe)

Self-extracting files are the easiest type of compressed file to deal with. Just double-click the file name and the extraction and installation process will begin.

Zipped Files

These file types do not have a self-extracting program built in. They require a separate software program, like WinRAR or Winzip, to enable file extraction.

These files usually have an extension of zip but may use rar, cab, arj, lzh, tar, gz, ace, uue, bz2, jar, or iso.

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Extracting/Unzipping Using the Wizard Tool

It is a fairly easy process to unzip or extract files. Follow these steps:

1. Click on the ‘Wizard’ icon:



The Wizard will spawn the following screen which enables an option to ‘Unpack an archive’.



2. Select ‘Unpack an archive’ and then click on the ‘Next’ button to spawn the following screen:



3. Click on the ‘Browse’ button and locate your zipped file, as illustrated above. You’ll note the zipped file is highlighted in the image below:



4. Click on the ‘Open’ button after you’ve selected the zipped file name. You’ll see the following screen displayed:



5. Click on ‘Browse’ to select a destination folder where WinRAR can deposit the extracted files. The following screen will be spawned:



Note that you must click on one of the locations above to locate a destination folder and press Enter. If you want to create a new folder, then you must click on the ‘New Folder’ button on the bottom right-hand side of the screen. This action will spawn a screen similar to the one that below:



In the example above, I clicked on ‘My Documents’ and then ‘My Pictures’ and finally on the ‘New Folder’ button at the bottom right-hand side of the screen. You’ll note that the image of the folder is open and that there is a black rectangle around the text ‘New Folder’. Be sure to type in the new name that you’d like for your destination folder. When you’ve completed the process, click on the ‘OK’ button.

6. Finally, click on the ‘Finish’ button at the bottom of the screen and the extracting/unzipping process will be activated. WinRAR will then open the destination folder and display the files that have been extracted.

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Compressing/Zipping Files With The Wizard Tool

1. Click on the ‘Wizard’ icon:



It will spawn the following screen:



2. Select ‘Create a new archive’ by clicking on the radio button to the left of the text.

3. Click on the ‘Next’ button. You’ll see the following screen appear:



4. Click on the ‘Create Default’ button. It will spawn the following screen:

5. When you’ve selected the files you want to have zipped, and indicated the location where you want the zipped file saved, then click on the ‘OK’ button.
6. WinRAR will display the following screen. It enables you to delete the files after archiving, create a self-extracting file (this will make the file much larger) or split the archive into several parts. In most cases, you just choose ‘Faster, but less tight compression’.



Note that it indicates that you should press the ‘Finish’ button when you are ready to continue.

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