How To Make a Zip File (Windows XP)?

-PC Mechanic

If you need to combine many files into one convenient file to send as an email attachment, or for back up purposes, the easiest way to do this is to create a zip file. A zip file is basically a compressed folder that contains multiple files.

1. Select the files / folders you wish to zip (you can put them all into one folder, or hold ctrl and click on each individual file / folder)
2. Right-Click on a selected file / folder
3. Hover over Send To, then click on Compressed (zipped) Folder
4. A zip folder should appear with the selected contents contained inside. The zipped folder acts as a single file. It may take some time for your computer to compile the new file.

The above process works in Windows XP. There are a variety of utilities out there such as WinZIP and WinRAR that can also perform this task. Most such utilities will install themselves into your right-click menu, meaning that you can right-click inside of Windows Explorer and choose to create a ZIP file out of selected files.

Making ZIP Files on a Mac

-written by a Mac Pro at Apple.com

One of my favorite Mac OS X features is the ability to create ZIP compressed files from within the OS (basically, this shrinks the file size, ideal for files you’re going to email — smaller file sizes mean faster file transfers). To create a compressed file, either Control-click on the file and choose Create Archive (which is Apple-speak for “make a compressed ZIP file”). Or you can click on a file, then go to the Action menu (the button that looks like a gear up in the Finder window’s toolbar), and choose Create Archive from there. Either way, it quickly creates a new file, with the file extension “.zip.” This is the compressed file. You can also compress several different files (like three, for example) into one single archive file — just Command-click (or Shift-click contiguous files) on all the files you want included, then choose Create Archive of X Items from the Action menu. A file will be created named “Archive.zip” (that’s it!). By the way, if someone sends you a ZIP file, don’t sweat it — just double-click it and Tiger will automatically decompress it.