Downloading and Unzipping Files

Tools and Instructions for Downloading and Unzipping Files

So..., you want to download that ultra-cool, mind-blowing game or that killer app all your friends have been raving about. Not to worry.
  • Make sure you have some temporary directories or folders on your hard drive(e.g.; C:\HOLD, C:\MISC).
  • When you find the file you want, simply click on it and choose the "save to disk" option and place it in one of the temporary directories on your hard drive.
So..., now you've downloaded that ultra-cool, mind-blowing game or that killer app and now you want to install it. But it is in .ZIP format...

ZIP file @*!>&$*(!@#$???

and what do you do with it?

Frustration sets in...

No need to fret, just read on.

Introduction

Many of the files that can be downloaded from the Web are compressed in .zip format, which shrinks file sizes and makes downloading faster and less expensive, in terms of hard drive space. However, you must first unzip the .zip files before you can use them. Included here are the rules and tools to help you in that process.

What Is A ZIP File, Anyhow?

ZIP files are "archives" used for distributing and storing files. ZIP files contain one or more files. Usually the files "archived" in a ZIP are compressed to save space. ZIP files make it easy to group files and make transporting and copying these files faster.

What About ARJ, LZH, Gzip, TAR, And Unix Compress Files?

These files provide most of the benefits of ZIP files, but use different file formats. WinZip can handle ZIP, TAR, gzip, and Unix compress format files by itself. External programs are required for the less frequently used ARJ, ARC, and LZH formats.

Why Do People Use ZIP Files?

ZIP files save time and space, and make downloading software and transferring email attachments faster. Typical uses for ZIP files include:
  • Most files available on ftp sites, bulletin boards and electronic services like CompuServe are distributed as archives. Two benefits of using archives for electronic file distribution are that only one file transfer operation ("download") is required to obtain all related files, and file transfer time is minimized because the files in an archive are compressed.
  • It is often useful to send a group of related files to an associate. Rather than distributing individual files it is often easier to distribute the files as an archive to benefit from the file grouping and compression.
  • Some files are important but used infrequently. To save disk space simply compress these files into an archive when they are not used, and decompress them only when needed.

What can I use to unzip files?

WinZip(for Win 3x and Win95) and PKZip(for DOS) are the 2 most popular applications to accomplish this.

Where Does WinZip Fit In?

WinZip makes it easy for Windows and Windows 95 users to work with archives. WinZip features an intuitive point-and-click drag-and-drop interface for viewing, running, extracting, adding, deleting, and testing files in archives with a standard Windows interface. WinZip provides the same "friendly face" for all the aforementioned archive formats. Winzip is a zip/unzip utility that you will use quite often when you are downloading files from web pages and FTP sites. Programs that end in .zip need to be unzipped before you can install them. Winzip will unzip these files for you, and it can also be used to zip any file(s) up (Compressing).

  • Make sure you have some temporary directories or folders on your hard drive(e.g.; C:\HOLD, C:\MISC)
    To download Winzip, you must first go to a site like Strouds Consummate Winsock Apps or TUCOWS(The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software). Win95 users-save this file on your Desktop. Win3x users-save this file to a temp directory.

    Win95-Once the file is downloaded, go to your desktop and double-click on it. You will be prompted a few times about what directories the files will be installed in - just keep clicking on OK. When This installation is complete, you can Recycle ("trash" or "delete") the winzip.exe file sitting on your desktop.

    If you follow all the instructions that are displayed when installation is taking place, you will be able to unzip any .zip file you download in Windows 95 simply by double-clicking on it.

    Win3x-After downloading WinZip to a temp directory, open your File Manager, go to the directory where you stored winzip.exe and simply double-click on it.

    If you follow all the instructions that are displayed when installation is taking place, you will be able to unzip any .zip file you download in Win3x simply by double-clicking on it in File Manager.

    How to "UNZIP" .ZIP files Using PKUNZIP

    A .ZIP file contains multiple files that have been compressed using the PKZIP compression program. The files are compressed to save disk space and download time. Here's a quick and dirty guide to unzipping .ZIP files with PKUNZIP, the companion decompression program to PKZIP.

    1. Make sure you have some temporary directories or folders on your hard drive(e.g.; C:\HOLD, C:\MISC)
    2. Go out and download that game you wanted.
    3. Download pkz204g.exe, the program that zips and unzips .ZIP files.

    4. In Win3.x, go to the File Manager and simply double click on the file pkz204g.exe. to extract it's contents.

      In Win95, click on Start - Run - then type WINFILE and locate the file pk204g and simply double click on the file pkz204g.exe. to extract it's contents.

    5. Copy "pkunzip.exe" to C:\DOS if you are using DOS and Windows 3.x. If you are using Windows 95, copy "pkunzip.exe" to C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.

      (If you can't figure out where pkzip204.g.exe downloaded to, see the explanation on how to use "dir /s" at the end of these instructions.)

    6. Now, make a new directory for the downloaded game.

    7. In File Manager click File - Create Directory and name the directory "game" or what ever the game is called.

    8. Copy the game into that directory from it's temporary home..

    9. Go to C:\game and single click on the .zip file to highlight it. Click File - Associate and find the PKUNZIP.EXE file in your DOS or WINDOWS\COMMAND dir.
    10. Since pkunzip.exe was copied to your C:\DOS (or C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND) directory, it is in your system "path" and you can run it from anywhere on your system, including the c:\game directory. You can now unzip game.zip using pkunzip.exe.

    11. Now double click on game.zip and the files contained in game.zip will be extracted into the c:\game directory. Click Window - Refresh and install that puppy!! TO UNZIP OTHER GAMES, REPEAT THE STEPS ABOVE.

    12. Most games need to be "installed" before they can actually be used. If so, there should be a file with an obvious name, like "setup" or "install" among the extracted files. Run that file to install the game.
    13. In addition, there may be a "readme" file that was extracted with the game files. Read it with the DOS text editor (edit) or Notepad in Windows for installation tips and other important information (such as the amount of RAM needed, etcetera).
    14. If the game is a Windows game, you may need to run a "setup" program from Windows to install it. Return to Windows and choose "File", "Run" and then type this into the dialog box:

                c:\game\setup.exe

      Then click on O.K.

    That's it! Happy UnZipping!