WinZip 8–the latest release of WinZip–makes it
fairly easy for Win 9x/NT/2000 users to work with compressed files.
These are used for storage and distribution, in order to save
valuable hard disk space.
We installed WinZip on a
Win 98 machine. Installation was fast and easy. During installation,
you have the option to choose between "WinZip Wizard" or "WinZip
Classic" interface. WinZip Wizard is for beginners, contains basic
WinZip features, and makes it easy to zip and unzip files. WinZip
Classic is for experienced users and includes advanced WinZip
features. However, whatever interface you choose, you can easily
switch between the two later.
Apart from quick zipping
and unzipping of files, we found lots of useful features in the
software. Let’s look at them one by one.
Favorite Zip
folders
This is a
neat feature and gives you fast and easy access to zip files by
storing them in one convenient location. Thus, you no longer need to
manually search for zipped files on your hard disk.
Zip and e-mail from
Windows Explorer
This lets you
zip and e-mail files from Explorer itself. All you need to do is
right-click the file and select "Zip and E-mail". WinZip
automatically zips the file and attaches it to a new e-mail
message.
WinZip Self Extractor
Personal edition
This is
used to create self-extracting zip files. A self-extracting zip file
is an EXE file, which includes a zip file and software to extract or
unzip the contents of the zip file. This is pretty useful, as you
could convert your zip file into an EXE and mail it to even those
who don’t own a compression utility. Registered WinZip users can
download WinZip Self Extractor 2.1 from
href="http://www.winzip.com/other.htm">www.
href="http://www.winzip.com/other.htm">winzip.com/other.htm.
This version includes certain additional features that are not part
of the Personal edition.
Multi-disk Zip
files
At times, you
might have failed to transfer a zip file onto a floppy disk due to
"insufficient disk space". However, using this feature you can now
zip and transfer files to multiple disks, if they don’t fit on one.
All you need to do is create a zip file on your floppy disk and
start adding your desired files. If the disk fills during the add
operation, you’ll be prompted to insert a new disk. Once you do
that, WinZip will automatically create a zip file on that disk, and
continue adding your files.
Install
option
Another
useful feature of WinZip is its install option. If you have a zip
file that contains a setup or install program, you can use this
feature to automatically unzip files and run the installation
program. Using this feature, we were able to install a screensaver
within a few seconds.
View contents of
multiple files
You can use
the View option in the Classic wizard interface to view the contents
of multiple files simultaneously. Thus, if your zipped folder
contains, lets say three DOC files, then you can open all these
files simultaneously in Word.
Add comments to zip
files
You can also
add comments to your zipped archives. These are displayed while
opening a zip file or when you place your mouse over a zip file in
the Explorer. Besides the comment, it also displays the number of
files in the archive. This is a useful feature for keeping track of
all your zip files.
Neelima Vaid at PCQ Labs