Help: How do you open a ZIP File?

Subject: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: Tom D.
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 12:42 AM

Someone was kind enough to e-mail me what I believe is either an ABC file or sheet music in a file tha ends with the suffix ".ZIP", from which I gather that it is a ZIP FILE. How do I open such an item in a windows environment?

When opened in Word for Windows it is quite runic or heiroglyphic, neither of which I can read.

Thanks,

Tom D.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: Musicman
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 12:44 AM

Tom, you go here, download the program, then double click on the file name.

musicman

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: SeanM
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 03:03 AM

I probably don't need to state it, but here goes anyway...

Before running anything in the file, make sure it's OK with a virus scan. A lot of it depends on knowing and trusting the sender, and the sender running a safe system, but a lot of virii can piggyback in on otherwise safe files. Better safe than sorry - unzip it, refuse to run anything until scanned, and then do so.

As to the .ZIP format itself, the reason it looked weird in windows is due to .ZIP being a compressed file. Think of it as squeezing the file down to its smallest size (or close to), and then when you use WINZIP to 'decompress', you're opening it up to its normal size. Just about any file can be zipped.

M

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From:
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 07:04 AM

A .zip file can also be a bunch of files "bundled" together. They can come out in their own folder or as lose files. If you just use a decompression program you might have a lot of files floating around your root directory.

The un-ziping programs usually have a "test" option which doesn't do anything but just lists what will come out when you do use the program. That'll tell you if you will get a lot of files.

You can play it safe by making a folder and putting the .zip file in it. Then apply the un-zipping program. You can move the file or files to wherever you want to later.

Murray

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: MMario
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 08:29 AM

winzip allows you to choose where you unzip your files. try to put them somewhere you can find them!

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 08:45 AM

I don't know about others but even with Winzip's very easy user interface, I have managed to extract files to the wrong location and wound up with a mess of files where I didn't want them.

The ones that catch me the most though are those PKZip self extracting files.

Jon

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 10:04 AM

You use a doodah available from Burl Ives: it's called a zippididoodah.
Sorry, I couldn't (never can!) resist it.
RtS (village idiot, third class)

Subject: RE: Help: How do you open a ZIP File?
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Mar 01 - 10:31 AM

Use the unzipper.