As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I was going to get back to the subject of zip files. This is Part 2 of 'Moving the Elephant--Sending Large Files and Groups of Files'. This week. let's talk about compressing and zipping files, two terms that are frequently used in conjunction with each other. When someone asks you to just "zip those files and send the zip file to me" do you break out in a cold sweat? Topics involving file compression and zipping can seem daunting and scary, but they don't need to be. It's a fairly easy process. When we talk about zipping files, we're referring to selecting a group of individual files and compiling them to create one unit called a zipped folder. The folder becomes one file in and of itself, hence 'zip file'. For example, at a base level, supposing you want to email all of the photos in a certain file on your computer. You can't attach an entire folder to an email--it just doesn't work that way. But, with the photos zipped together, you're only sending one file containing many photos. There are many file extensions that can be associated with a zip file. You might find a zip file with extensions like: .zip, .7z, .ace, .arj, .cab, .gzip, .rar, .tar, etc. (etc. not being one of the recognized file extensions). For our purposes and for the ease of the general populace the '.zip' extension is going to be the most commonly used, as well as the one that is most easily extracted by Windows operating systems, with no add-ons. There are several programs for you to manage and work with your zip file - create, modify, or unzip a zip file. A few of these third party vendors, to name just a few, are: WinZip, WinRAR, and 7-Zip, with the last one being shareware. For our Macintosh users, the most widely used zip utility is StuffIt. These are all capable of compressing and zipping your files using the .zip extension, so it will be easy for the computer on the receiving end to extract the files. In our business using zip files offers us one primary advantage--instead of receiving an email with multiple attachment files, we receive one single file, through email or preferably an online service (mentioned later in this article), as an attachment which helps reduce email size and bandwidth. Here are a few simple steps to creating zip files with your Windows operating system (unless your operating system is pre-XP), without having to purchase or download additional software, which is frequently laden with confusing screens and features. To create a zip file: 1. Open Windows Explorer. 2. Go to the folder where the files are located that you want to zip. 3. Select all of the files that you want added to the zip file. 4. Right click on the selected files, point your mouse cursor to Send To and click on Compressed (zipped) Folder. If by chance you should receive a zip file, this is how to extract them: 1. Open Windows Explorer. 2. Right click the zipped file that you've saved to some location on your hard drive. 3. Click Extract All... from the menu. 4. On the next window, you will be prompted with folder destination. Select a folder to extract files to and click Next. 5. On the next window, your extracted files will be displayed for your viewing. These steps may be slightly different between XP, Vista and Windows7, but they are primarily the same. So if you find yourself attaching files in emails to friends, family or coworkers, zipping can save you, and them, a lot of time and hassle. Sending large files across big spaces can take big time, and if your connection is broken or runs out of time, you have to start all over again. Zipping up the attachments in your emails means smaller files to transfer and much shorter connection times. Also remember that you can use SendThisFile (www.sendthisfile.com) or SizeableSend (www.sizeablesend.com) to send your zip files, thus saving your recipient even more computer processing speed. This way they can pick up the file from the online storage area at their leisure. ...read more
By Connect 2 Clubs December 09, 2010
By Connect 2 Clubs June 30, 2010
Several online and/or Internet fax options are available. Within these options is Internet fax companies in which you are required to complete a membership in which you are required to pay a flat rate fee per fax sent. If you simply wish to send one fax every once in a while there are also free Intern... ...read more
High-speed Internet access is one of the best ways to surf and connect to the Internet. Although high-speed Internet provides a great quality of service, the price is higher than many may expect. However, there are some easy ways to get high-speed Internet service and save money off the normal price. ...read more