How to Unzip Files

Posted on March 5th, 2009 by Marck

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

View 1 Comments Comment on this Article

Republish

All computers have limited disk space to store files and programs. To maximize this limited space, many people share and distribute files through archived files. To use these programs, you have to extract them from the archived or zipped file. Here are easy ways to retrieve and extract files from zipped archives.

Types of Archive Files

Archive files “pack” a large amount of data into a single, compressed file. There are three common types of file archives used today:

ZIP archives (.zip) are created with the ZIP compression format. ZIP archives are usually associated with WinZIP, and are based on the ARC compression format used in the early days of data compression. ZIP is the default compression format used by Microsoft Windows to compress files and folders.
RAR archives (.rar) are based on the proprietary Roshal Archive format. Creating and extracting RAR archives are significantly slower than ZIP, but have a better rate of compression and have smaller file sizes.
Executable archives (.sfx, .exe) are often used on installers for software, like programs and drivers. The files are compressed into a single file bundled with an application. Executable archives do not need a separate program to be extracted or used.

Unzipping Files

To extract the contents of an archived file, you need to have an archiving program. Programs like WinZip, WinRAR, StuffIt, and FileRoller can all be used to create and extract archived files. Here are some ways to extract archived files:

ZIP Archives

Use an archiving program to open the ZIP file. ZIP is supported by almost all file archiving programs.
If the ZIP file contains many files, you may need to preview a few of them to see if the files are complete and functional. Double-click on a file and check to see if it’s complete.
Use the “Extract” function to unzip the file to a specified folder.

RAR Archives

Use an archiving program to open the RAR file. While many file archiving programs and archive extracting utilities support RAR, it’s best to use the proprietary WinRAR tool to test and extract files.
A status message will indicate whether or not the RAR archive is complete, or if there are any errors in the structure of the compressed file.
Use the “Extract” function to extract the files to your chosen destination.

Executable Archives

To extract an executable file, double-click on the EXE file and follow the instructions on the screen. Depending on how the archive was made, you may be prompted to a proprietary program or a generic InstallShield wizard.

File archives are easy to extract and are easy to pass on to other users. With these tips to help you unzip archived files, you can maximize the space of your hard disk without giving up precious bytes for other things like music and videos.