Working with compressed Folders

Working with  Compressed  Folders

Really big files can be difficult to  move or copy. 

They’re especially difficult to transfer to  other users,  whether by  email or portable disk drive.

Fortunately, Windows includes  a way to make big files smaller.

Compressed folders  take big files and compress  their size,  which  makes them easier to copy or  move. 

After  the file  has  been transferred, you can then uncompress the file back to its original state. Compressing a File Compressing one or more files is a relatively easy task  from within any Windows folder.
Just  follow these 

steps: 1. Select the file(s) you want  to compress.
2. Right-click the file(s)  to display the pop-up menu.
3. Select Send to, Compressed (zipped) Folder.

Windows now creates a  new folder  that  contains  compressed versions  of the  file(s)  you selected.

You  can now copy,  move, or email this folder, which is a lot smaller than the original file(s)

. A compressed folder containing one or more files. Extracting Files  from  a Compressed Folder The process of decompressing a file  is  actually  an  extraction  process.

That’s because you  extract  the original file(s)  from the compressed folder. In  Windows XP  and Windows Vista, this  process is  eased  by the use of the Extraction Wizard.

Follow these
steps: 1. Right-click the compressed folder to display the pop-up menu
2. Select Extract All
3. When  the Extraction Wizard launches, select a  location  for the extracted files and then click the Extract button to complete the process

Copying Files  to Another Computer Of course,

you’re not limited to  copying  and moving files  from one location to another on a  single PC.

You can also  copy files to  other PCs via either a network connection or some sort of portable disk drive.

Copying Files  with a Portable  Drive

If  you’re not on a network,  you can use a  portable drive to transport files from  one computer to another.

The most popular type of portable drive today  is the USB drive, such as the one shown in Figure below, which stores  computer data in flash memory.

The  drive itself is small enough  to  fit on  a keychain,  hence  the nickname of “keychain drive.” (Some people also  called them  “thumb drives.”) You can find USB drives with capacities  up to 4GB—more than big enough to hold even your biggest files.