Creating compressed (zipped) folders

If you're running short on hard drive space, you can conserve precious free space by creating compressed folders that automatically compress every file and subfolder that you put into them. To create a blank compressed folder, follow these steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to where you want the new compressed folder to be.
2. Right-click in a blank area anywhere in the central part of the window's display area and then choose New from the shortcut menu that appears. Click Compressed (Zipped) Folder on its continuation menu.
   If the Classic menus are displayed in the Explorer window, you can also choose File → New → Compressed (Zipped) Folder. If not, press Alt+FW and then click Compressed (Zipped) folder on the continuation menu.
   Windows creates a new folder icon (sporting a zipper to indicate its special zip-type compression abilities) that sports the temporary filename New Compressed (Zipped) Folder.
3. Replace the temporary filename, New Compressed (Zipped) Folder, by typing your own filename; press Enter.

After creating a compressed folder, you can copy or move files and folders into it just as you would a regular file folder. As you copy or move files or folders, Windows 7 compresses their contents. You can then copy compressed folders to removable media, such as CD-ROMs and flash drives. You can also attach them to e-mail messages.

Microsoft has even gone so far as to make its compression schemes compatible with other compression programs. This compatibility means that you can send compressed folders to people who don't even use Windows (if you know any), and they can extract (decompress) their contents by using their favorite compression/ decompression program.

Tip Note that Windows 7 automatically appends the .zip file extension to the name you give a compressed folder as a way to identify the folder as one containing zipped-up files. Of course, you must make sure the Hide Extensions For Known File Types check box on the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box is deselected in order for this filename extension to be displayed in Windows Explorer.

Warning You can run program files from within compressed folders simply by doubleclicking their program icons, provided that the program doesn't depend upon any other files (such as those pesky .dll files or some sort of data files). If the programs in the compressed folder do depend upon these kinds of auxiliary files, you must extract them before you can run the program. Also, be aware that when you open text or graphic documents stored in a compressed folder, they open in read-only mode. Before you or anyone else can edit such documents, they must be extracted from the folder as described in the following section.