Quick Tips

Compress Files With XP

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I need to compress a file, but don't have any Compression software. Is there any way to do this?


Several weeks ago, someone asked me if I could help them make a file smaller. He didn't have any file compression software installed and I did not want to complicate the matter by installing additional software on the machine. So I told him that he can use XP's built-in compression tool. I told him he can get a compressed file using Windows XP's built-in function by right clicking on the file-> Send to-> Compressed (zipped) Folder and a file will be created with the same name but with the zip extension. You can do the same on your computer if you don't have any other file compression software installed. Try it!

You can do the same for a folder instead of a single file. Doing that would result in all files in the folder to be compressed into one zip file. The compression is not great, but you get decent compression for free. If you want a better application there are many out there. I recommend the free application 7-Zip, which I spoke highly of in my post on FrugalNYC.

Did you find this helpful? What compression program do you use? Share your comments below. If you found this helpful and want to let me know or need additional help contact me via email. I'll be taking a break from posting to both FrugalNYC and FrugalTech for the Thanksgiving holiday and resume posts on December 1 for Frugal NYC and December 2 for FrugalTech. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many people don't know about this feature. I think it comes especially handy when emailing lots of files, you can just zip it into one convenient little file! I love explaining to people to look for the new little folder with a "zipper" around it. :)

FrugalNYC said...

Anonymous, I totally agree, its a great "built-in" feature that is under utilized. It's always good knowing that you have this option always there. Glad you find it helpful as well.

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