7-Zip is a free file-compression tool
that works better than Windows’ built-in software
There are several versions of 7-Zip
(7-zip.org). If you use 32-bit Windows, you must use the 32-bit version, but
both 32-bit and 64-bit versions work in 64-bit Windows. It’s worth getting the
64-bit version if you can, because it compresses files faster.
If you’re not sure which version of Windows
you have, go to the Control Panel and open System. It will be listed under
‘System type’.
There is a portable version of 7-Zip you
can run from a USB drive, which doesn’t install anything on your hard drive. To
download it, go to PortableApps (portableapps.com). Click Get Apps, then
Utilities. The only difference is that you won’t get 7-Zip’s options added to
the right-click menu.
There
is a portable version of 7-Zip you can run from a USB drive, which doesn’t
install anything on your hard drive
Open archives in Windows Explorer
7-Zip’s File menu lists options for Open,
Open Inside and Open Outside. 7-Zip has a built-in file manager you can use to
browse through your drives, and open folders and archives. This will be used if
you choose Open or Open Inside. If you select Open Outside, the contents of the
selected archive will be shown in a standard Windows Explorer window.
Archive for convenience
Some file formats are already compressed
and can’t be compressed further. For example, digital photos and other artwork
saved as JPG, PNG and GIF files compress poorly, if at all. Even if compressing
doesn’t save drive space or make attachments smaller, it’s still worth
collecting a group of images into a compressed folder when emailing them,
because it’s easier for you and your recipient to manage 20 photos as one zip
file than have 20 separate files attached to an email.
Trim the context menus
Right-click a file or folder in Explorer or
on the Desktop, and the 7-Zip menu will offer several options to compress and
email archives.
However, you need to be using email
software because it won’t work with Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. If you’re using
webmail, you may as well remove these options from the right-click (context)
menu. Start 7-Zip and select Tools, then Options. On the 7-Zip tab, clear the
ticks against any options involving email.
Make 7-Zip more attractive
If you find the icons in 7-Zip’s toolbars a
bit dull, you can swap them by going to www.7ztm.de
and downloading 7-Zip Theme Manager. It contains lots of new icon sets,
including fun collections like Alien Invasion, cowLand and Star Wars. Use 7-Zip
to extract the file to a new folder, then open it and run 7zTM.exe.
Make
7-Zip more attractive
Move and open archives
There’s a quick and easy way to extract
files to a particular folder. Right-click and drag the zip file to your chosen
folder in Windows Explorer. When you let go of the mouse, a menu appears and
you can choose 7-Zip, then Extract Here.
Tweak compression options
The ‘Add to Archive’ window has lots of
option but it’s not obvious what they do. ‘Solid Block size’ is a drop-down
list that ranges from 1MB to 64GB with Solid and Non-solid options. Compression
is better when solid is selected. ‘Word size’ also affects compression, with
larger values resulting in higher compression. Try 128 or 256 for small
archives.
Most computers now use multi-core
processors and, if you select the maximum number of threads, the work is
divided among the CPU cores resulting in faster compression. If you tick the
‘Compress shared files’ box, you can compress a file even when it’s open in another
application, although any changes made to the file after adding it to the
archive will not be saved.
If
you select the maximum number of threads, the work is divided among the CPU
cores resulting in faster compression
Choose the update mode
Suppose you want to archive the contents of
your Documents folder as a back-up. You can select all the files and folders in
Documents, right click them, choose 7-Zip, then ‘Add to Archive’.
Selecting ‘Add and replace files’ will load
all your files to the archive, adding new ones and overwriting any that are
already present.
‘Update and add files’ will only replace
files in the archive if there are newer versions available. This involves less
work so the process is quicker.
You can also synchronise an archive with a
group of files. Select all the files and folders in Documents, right click them
and choose 7-Zip, then ‘Add to Archive’. Select ‘Synchronise files’ and only
the newer files will be updated. If files have been deleted on the drive, they
are deleted from the archive too. It’s a quick way to update a back-up.
