When working on a personal computer, it often becomes necessary to reduce the size of a file in order to save space on a hard drive or removable drive. For example, you need to copy a file from one computer to another using a floppy disk. Or you need to send a large file by e-mail. If you reduce its size, you save a lot of time, and if the Internet is not unlimited, then money. In such situations, the best solution is to create a compressed file. How to create an archive? That is what this file is called.
Definition
An archive is a single file that can contain many other compressed files to save memory. To work with such data, there are special software products called archivers. With their help, you can pack files, extract them, and view the contents of these same archives. The process of compressing and packing information is called archiving, and unpacking is called unzipping.
Formats
There are several compressed file formats. The most common are RAR, ZIP, TAR, CAB. It is these three letters that become the extension of the compressed file. The format type affects the degree of compression. For example, a RAR archive weighs less than a ZIP. The format of the packed files also affects the efficiency. Some can be compressed by only two times, while others can be compressed by four or more. There are formats that are not compressed at all. How to create an archive using such a program?
The most convenient tool is a well-known archiver called WinRAR. With it, it is possible to create both ZIP and RAR archives. And it can view and unpack compressed files of other formats without any problems.
Sequencing
In order to answer the question of how to create a RAR archive, you need to do some simple operations. To begin with, the necessary files are selected. If there are a lot of them, then it is convenient to use the selection with the mouse while holding down the CTRL key on the keyboard. If you press the combination CTRL + A, then absolutely all the files in this directory will be selected. If this method is somewhat inconvenient, then you can use the "File" menu of the archiver program. You must select the "Add" item, then in the window that appears, enter the name that the user wants to assign to the archive being created. Here you can also choose the format: ZIP or RAR. The second one is set by default because it compresses much better, and most often there is no need to change it. In the case when you need to transfer the archive to another user, it is better to ask him in advance if he has a program capable of working with the selected file format.
Multi-volume archives
Floppy disks are used less and less, but still found. And if you need to record a large archive on them, then it is created as a multi-volume archive. It consists of parts called volumes. How to create an archive of this type? To do this, in the "Volume Size" section, select 1475500. This number indicates the size of the floppy disk. In this case, it is better to check the box "To restore" so that you can restore the archive if suddenly the data in it is somehow damaged. After all, a floppy disk is not the most reliable drive.
Self-extracting archives
It happens that a compressed file is unpacked on a computer, even if a special program is not installed. How to create a self-extracting archive? To do this, files are selected for packaging, then, by pressing the right mouse button, you need to select the "Add to archive" item. Important: this item is only available when set. Then the format is also selected. In the parameters, you need to specify that this will be an SFX archive. It remains only to click on the "OK" button and everything will be ready.
As you can see from the above, the answer to the question of how to create an archive is not difficult. All you need is the appropriate software, a little patience and direct hands. But the consequences of acquiring skills are only positive: saving space in memory, more free time when transferring files, convenience. You can also teach other beginners. After all, it will also be useful for them to know how to create an archive.
Nowadays, we are accustomed to working with large voluminous files, which sometimes reach several tens or even hundreds of gigabytes. The capabilities of modern computers and the capacious volume of their hard drives greatly contribute to this. Therefore, a large number of people have not learned work with archives. The task of our manual is the educational program of this important issue of informatics. The material is useful for reading, both students and housewives.
Why create an archive?
Sooner or later, a person has to deal with archives. For example, unpack the file with the control work or the desired presentation. Download or send multiple photos through file hosting as part of maintaining privacy.
There are many situations where you need create an archive. Here are some reasons for creating file archives:
1) space saving
2) the convenience of storing a large number of files
3) file transfer
4) additional protection against viruses
5) Increasing data privacy
What are the archiving programs?
The task of any archiver program is the maximum and fast compression of data, selected files and folder structures. But also the methods that are used for compression must be reversible. That is, unlike the algorithm for compressing pictures into jpg format, there should be no loss of data (even a single byte).
List of popular archiving programs for Windows OS:
- 7-Zip
- WinRAR
- winzip
Among them, there are many free ones:
- 7-Zip
- Hamster Free ZIP Archiver
- IZArc
- Universal Extractor
- PeaZip 5.5.0
- ExtractNow
- UnZip Me
- FileCompress
- KGB Archiver
Many of these products have a rich set of compression methods and filters. Most of them support setting passwords for opening archives, and splitting large files into several archive volumes. Some archiving programs have already configured preset profiles.
7-Zip archiving program and its features
7-Zip was chosen as the main program for our review. Why the choice fell on him. The thing is, it's open source software. Most of the source code for this program is licensed under the GNU LGPL. The unRAR code is distributed under a mixed license: GNU LGPL + unRAR restriction.
7-Zip can be used on any computer, including commercial organizations. No need to register or pay for the 7-Zip archiver.
Key features of 7-Zip
High compression in 7z format with LZMA compression
The program supports the following archive formats:
- Zip/Unzip: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
- Extract only: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z.
- Excellent encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
How to create a file archive with 7-zip?
In this tutorial, we will tell and show you how to create a file archive using the free 7-Zip program on Windows.
- Install the program on a computer in Windows. You can download the program from the official project http://www.7-zip.org/. At the time of the creation of this guide, the version of the program was 9.20 (beta version 9.35 has already appeared).
- Go to the Windows folder where the files and folders you want to archive are located.
- Select the necessary objects for compression.
- Right-click to bring up the context menu.
- In the context menu, select 7-zip -> Add to "Folder name".7z. After the procedure, you will get a ready-made archive in the same folder.
How to create a self-extracting archive?
When downloading files from the Internet, you probably noticed that some archives are self-sufficient - you do not need to install any archiver in the Windows environment to unpack them. Why don't we create something similar?
- Next, select the item 7-zip -\u003e
- In the window that appears, check the box Create SFX archive (Create SFX archive).
- Press the OK button
How to create an archive with a password to open?
- Creating a password that must be entered when extracting an archive is not as difficult as you might first think.
- We do all the steps until the context menu is called, as when creating a regular archive.
- Next, select the item 7-zip -> Add to archive (Add to archive).
- In the window that appears, type in the Enter password and Repeat password fields of the Encryption area your password of the required length.
- Press the OK button.
- To increase the secrecy and the impossibility of determining what the archive is, it is necessary to check the box "Encrypt file names".
How to create a multi-volume archive?
If you have a large number of files or one file of a very large size, and such that it does not fit on your file hosting, then in this case it is best to create a multi-volume archive. How can I do that?
- We do all the steps until the context menu is called, as when creating a regular archive.
- Next, select the item 7-zip -> Add to archive (Add to archive).
- In the window that appears, select any item in the field in the list "Split into volumes of size (in bytes)".
- There are several options: 10 MB, 650 MB, 700 MB, 4480 MB and an outdated item for saving to 1"44 MB floppy disks.
- Press the OK button - the archives will be created after a while.
How to unzip an archive using 7-zip?
The native file archive storage format is 7z. However, the presence of several decompression methods allows this program to work with other common types of archives.
For unpacking the archive, through the context menu, select the command Extract here or Extract to "The name of the file of the archive that you are going to unzip". After some time, depending on the volume and number of files, the program will create copies of the files (in the first case, or a special folder with copies of these files (second option).
Zip is one of the most popular data compression and archiving formats. All files and folders that are stored in a ZIP archive have a .zip extension, so you can easily distinguish them from many others.
Despite the fact that at this point in time there are a large number of data compression algorithms that are more perfect and better than ZIP, it still holds its position and does not lose popularity.
Many archiver programs support the .zip format, so you should not have any difficulties with unzipping. We have previously compiled , and all of them can open a .zip archive.
Creating a ZIP archive is not difficult. It all depends on the archiver that you will use for this. In this article, we will look at two ways to create a ZIP archive: using the WinRAR program and 7-Zip.
Creating a ZIP archive with WinRAR
We find the folder with the necessary file (or files) that you will archive. For this example, I'm going to archive ten photos, so I need to select them first.
The WinRAR archiver program will start. You can read the basic principles of creating an archive using this archiver in the article "".
The only thing we need to change is the Archive format. By default, the WinRAR program has the RAR format, but we need ZIP. So just check the box next to it.
Next, configure the data compression method and click " OK". By duration, a ZIP archive is created in the same way as RAR. As a result, we got such an archive, in the properties of which you can see that it has the .zip extension, which means that everything worked out for us correctly.
Creating a ZIP archive with 7-Zip
The 7-Zip archiver is more difficult to use because it has a greater number of different settings. In this article, I will not talk about them, because our goal now is simply to learn how to create ZIP archives.
Select the file(s) again and right-click on it. Now in the context menu we need the option " 7-Zip", and then the usual" Add to archive...».
The 7-Zip program window will open in which you need to select " Archive format» from the drop-down list. Of course we choose .zip.
Next, we set up the already familiar to us " Compression method" And " Compression level”, and also rename the future ZIP archive, if, of course, this is necessary. After completing the settings, click " OK».
Creating a ZIP archive using the 7-Zip program will take no longer than using the WinRAR archiver.
As a result, we will get a similar archive that will open without problems both in the above-mentioned 7-Zip and WinRAR, and in other similar archivers.
When sending large files by e-mail, it is not always possible to be sure that they will reach the recipient. This is due to the restrictions on the size of downloadable and transmitted materials established on such web resources. How to solve such a problem? As easy as pie. It is enough to use the archiving function. Don't know how it doesn't work? Would you like to understand how to zip a file? In this case, use the detailed instructions.
Method number 1: We archive the file in zip using Windows
This data compression option can be used on computers of various versions of Windows, since the ZIP folder creation function is included in absolutely all Microsoft operating system packages.
Method number 2: We archive documents in zip format using special programs
If you need to compress bulky materials to the maximum, it is better to use special archivers, for example, the WinRAR program. 
This program is good because in addition to fast and high-quality compression of files in various formats (zip, rar), access to it is absolutely free. To do this, it is enough on the official website of the developer.
In addition, it is possible to select additional archiving options:
- archive in the background;
- turn off the PC after the operation;
- wait if another document is being archived;
- exclude individual files from archiving (if a folder with several documents is archived);
- create a backup;
- select the function of determining the time;
- add a comment to the archive.
To do this, respectively, you need to select the tabs "Advanced", "File", "Time", "Comment" and others. In any case, after making the settings, do not forget to click the "OK" button so that the file compression process still starts:
As you can see, it is quite easy to archive a file in zip format!
ZIP is a data compression format. It is one of the most popular in the world, it is widely used in Windows, since the archiver built into it creates archives in the format .zip.
How to install a ZIP archiver on Windows
How to create a ZIP archive in Windows
To create an archive, right-click on the folder and select from the context menu Compress or Create archive.
How to unpack a ZIP archive in Windows
To unpack the archive, right-click on the archive, then Unzip or Unzip archive. There you can also specify the path to which folder to unpack the archive.
How to install a ZIP archiver on Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, FreeBSD
In Ubuntu, Debian, ZIP installation is done with the command:
apt-get install zip unzip
sudo apt-get install zip
ZIP installation on CentOS:
Yum install zip unzip
sudo yum install zip
Installing ZIP on FreeBSD
pkg_add -r zip unzip
How to pack a ZIP archive in Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS
zip -9r archive.zip archive- zip- archiver command, does not change
- -9r- keys. They define the rules by which the archiver will work. Keys are specified with a dash at the beginning. You can specify the keys as a group, you can each individually, for example -9 -r . The keys can be:
- 9 - compression ratio. It can range from 1 to 9, from smallest to largest, respectively. If set to 0, no compression will occur.
- r- make compression recursive. This means that if there are subdirectories in the directory that we are compressing, then we include them in the archive too
- x- exclude some files or directories. Specified separately at the very end of the command, for example: zip -9r archive.zip archive -x "archive/noarchive/*"
The path can be either relative or absolute. Absolute path example:
Zip -9r archive.zip /var/www/example.com/archive/* -x "/var/www/example.com/archive/noarchive/*"
- -P- set a password for the archive. For example: zip -9r -P pass archive.zip archive
Now, the password for the archive is pass . To see the contents of the archive or unpack it, you will be asked to enter the password for the archive.
Remember that the encryption standard .zip very weak and relatively easy to hack, so try not to zip important information.
- archive.zip- the name of the archive. Must end with .zip
- archive- folder (directory, directory) that we compress. This is the path relative to the current directory. You can specify absolute, say /var/log/archive/* . Also, you can specify several source paths to pack them into one archive, for example: zip -9r archive.zip archive archive2 /var/www/website/archive/*
How to unpack a zip archive in Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS
To unzip the archive .zip to the current directory, use the command.
