Grab the version of 7-Zip most suitable for your operating system from 7-zip.org. Installation is straightforward – a simple matter of accepting the defaults although, depending on your PC’s setup, you might be prompted to reboot.
Right-click the file you want to compress and select 7-Zip. to compress the fle immediately and save the archive to a current folder, simply click ‘Add to “xxx.zip”’ (where xxx is the file name). to tap into 7-Zip’s full range of features and settings, select ‘Add to archive’.
7-Zip includes a wealth of settings but, for the time being, familiarize yourself only with the options under Archive format. the default is 7z, which produces smaller archives than Zip. However, to extract such archives, the recipient will need 7-Zip. In general, you should stick to the regular Zip format.
Also familiarize yourself with the options under Compression level. the default is Normal, but you can significantly reduce archive sizes by choosing Maximum or Ultra. resulting compression will take longer – sometimes much longer – so this option is best used by those with particularly speedy PCs.
If you want to e-mail several files, individually attaching or detaching each one would take you and the e-mail’s recipients a lifetime. Instead, ‘stuff’ the lot into a single, manageable archive. Hold down ctrl and select all the fles you want, then right-click any one of them and use 7-Zip as normal (see step 2).
Adding a new file to an existing archive is easy – you don’t need to build the archive all over again. right-click the file to be added, select Copy, right-click the archive, then click Paste. the new file will be automatically incorporated. If archive and fle reside in the same folder, you can use simple drag-and-drop
Use the same method to add updated versions of files. When prompted, click Yes to confirm you want to overwrite. Note that when you add files to an archive, 7-Zip compresses them using the Fastest level, regardless of the level originally used for the archive.
many e-mail providers enforce attachment size limits. When sending lots of files – or one enormous file – you could come unstuck. 7-Zip lets you split archives into multiple parts. Under Split to volumes, simply enter the maximum size, appending K for kilobytes or m for megabytes.
When you split an archive, 7-Zip will append each part with .00x (where x is the version number). the recipient needs to extract only the first version of an archive. the remaining parts will be automatically stitched together. the recipient will, however, need 7-Zip installed on their system to extract the archive.
Archives can be encrypted. this is useful when e-mailing sensitive data to someone who uses a shared PC, for example. to encrypt an archive, simply enter and confirm a password. For the encryption method, we recommend 256bit AES. It’s an established standard and virtually uncrackable.
You can also encrypt file names – an option that WinZip lacks. this can comes in handy when you want to keep all your files safe. For extra security from prying eyes, select encrypt fle names. this option is available only when using the 7zformat, however.
Why not make your archive self-extractable? this will turn it into a file ending in .exe, and all the recipient has to do to extract the contents is double-click it. No experience with compressed files is needed – neither, indeed, is any zip utility. Set the format to 7z, then select Create SFX archive.
7-Zip’s right-click menu is used to add files from a single folder. to create an archive with files from multiple folders, use the File manager (Start, Program files, 7-Zip). File manager has a similar interface to Windows Explorer – to get the best from it, click View then 2 Panels.
Also in the File manager, click Tools, Options. Under the System tab, click Select all, OK. this will ensure all files ending in .zip, .7z, and numerous other extensions are directly associated with 7-Zip. Double-clicking a Zip archive will now launch the File manager, rather than Windows’ built-in extraction tool.
No comments:
Post a Comment