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WinZip 8

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PCQ Bureau
New Update

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

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