How to compress documents into a zip folder. How should files be archived? Working with WinRar

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“The shaman takes out a jug and pours a river into it,

Then he takes the sky and shovels it into a bag.

However, it archives.”

Archive programs are used to create an archive. These programs solve several problems:

Reduce the size of documents so that they fit on a floppy disk.

If the document is large, then the program “cuts” it into separate parts and then transfers it to different floppy disks

For storing rarely used documents, but necessary in the future. So that they take up less space on your hard drive.

To store a copy

To protect access to an archived document with a strong password.

To send an attached document in emails

Thus: an archive is a kind of folder in which documents are stored in compressed form.

Programs that create archives, add something to them, or, on the contrary, remove documents are called archivers. There are many such programs depending on the archiving algorithm.

In Russia, the following programs are considered leaders: and WINZIP. A document archive created using the WINRAR algorithm is almost the same size as a WINZIP or simply ZIP archive.

The WINRAR archiver has a more convenient interface. In addition, it is Russified. In addition, WINRAR is capable of creating archives in both RAR and ZIP formats.

The WINRAR archiver program is a separate component from Windows programs and is installed on the computer separately.

How to archive a word document

The process of simple archiving and unarchiving of documents.

Let's practice a little to make it clearer.

Create a document on your computer desktop, for example, in Word format. Name it. Open. Type a few phrases. Close.

To hide the document properties window, click on .

Creating and naming a new archive

Right on the free space of the Windows desktop --> “Create”, --> left on [ZIP Archive - WINRAR]. At the same time, a new icon will appear on the desktop, which will be in renaming mode. Give it a name.

An archive can be created, if necessary, inside a folder, and the folder must be open. To do this, click on the white field inside the folder.

The document you are going to archive must be closed.

So, you have created an archive, look how much it weighs. Remember that right-click on the document (in our case, the archive), then go to “Properties”,  “General”.

Look at the size of the archive you just created. For me it is 22 bytes. That is, an almost weightless shell. Don't forget: - To hide the document properties window, click on .

Archiving process.

Using the left mouse button, drag the icon of the document whose size you memorized onto the archive icon until the color changes; most often it becomes blue.

Hello! I am with you again, Alexey Antropov. Tell me, how often have you encountered the need to archive data on your phone, tablet, laptop or PC? What programs did you use most often for this?

So today we will talk a little about archiving files and find out in what cases it is necessary and how to archive files for sending by mail.

Archivers: what they are and what they are used for

The primary task of these programs was to compress electronic information for convenient storage and transfer to other devices. The capacity of the hard drive at that time was not very large; a 10 GB screw was the “pink dream” of many PC users.

Floppy disks with a ridiculous capacity of up to 1.44 MB were used as removable media, so several high-quality photos could completely occupy the entire floppy space. Later, CDR discs appeared, the free space of which often ran out at the most inopportune moment. And such discs are not “readable” on every machine. The Internet “squeezed out” only 56 Kb/s and large files could be downloaded for several days.

The very essence of archiving, which is based on pre-compression of data, has appealed to users all over the world. We still use the services of archivers to store electronic information, send it electronically or transfer it to another device. With their help, for example, today you can easily “pack” a folder with large files into an archive and send it by email.

Archiver is a special-purpose program whose functions include not only compression, but also convenient packaging of a package of information data.

It is not entirely correct to assume that the archiver necessarily compresses files, thereby reducing their size, since it has a special mode - “no compression”. It performs file merging of information according to some principle in one archive. For example, if you combine all the photos on your device into one such file, it will be transferred to a flash drive faster than all the same photos separately. In addition, with this mode, the size of the final file will still be slightly reduced, albeit not very significantly.

Popular archiving programs

The choice of program depends on the goal you set for it. Typically, in test versions of archivers, the manufacturer pays a lot of attention to the main quantitative parameters - speed and data compression ratio. He doesn’t think too much about the ease of use of the program. For us, this question is very relevant. We, the users, care what the application interface will look like, how simple its management process will be and how accessible its functions will be.

Modern PC users are offered a large selection of archivers. Some of them are absolutely free, some are paid, and there are also “shareware” programs. In the latter case, you can use it for free only for a certain period of time or with restrictions on certain functions. In addition, they all differ in interface, basic package of functions and other user capabilities.

Today we will not dwell on the “top 10” of the most popular of them, comparing their degree of “usefulness”. Let's assume that the average user does not rush to the cutting edge of modern software technology in an effort to try out all the offerings. He is content with old, good and well-tested programs.

Winrar– the program belongs to the shareware category of archivers; in practice, the user works with the “eternal” trial version. The application can be used freely for 40 days after installation, after which each time you start the program a recommendation will appear to purchase a license to use it. Containing our irritation, we once again close the reminder window and continue working, that’s all...

In the main window of the running archiver you can see:

Menu bar;
Archiving format selection panel;
File/folder compression method;
Panel with additional options;
Button for setting a password for the archive.

The archiver packs and compresses packages of files in Zip and Rar formats, opens almost all existing formats and, in terms of compression ratio to speed, occupies one of the leading positions in the “top 10”. A clear interface, maximum useful functions, flexibility and reliability of the program are highly valued by users all over the world.

Download WinRar

Zip archives most common. You can open them without the help of third-party programs, since the Windows system already has ready-made solutions. All you need is to double-click on the archive icon with the left mouse button. If you already have an archiver, then of course you can open the archive using it.

7Zip is the most popular archiver today, packing data into archives of various formats and unpacking archives of an even larger number of formats. Most often, users use formats such as tar/gzip/7z to pack files. The most noteworthy thing is that it is possible to nest one format into another. For example, you may encounter double-packed tar and gzip files, which are especially common on Unix systems.

This packer is characterized by a higher compression density than WinRAR, but it is significantly inferior to it in terms of speed. In the application working window the user can see:

Options panel for the created archive;
Panel for creating multi-volume archives with volume markings;
Possibility of archiving files/folders;
Set the file path type – relative, full, and absolute;
Additional functions panel;
Options panel for data encryption with a password for opening the archive, selection of an encryption method and the ability to encrypt file names.

Download 7zip

Some users archive data using programs such as:

CAB is a program necessary for working with archived files in installation packages of “serious” applications - Windows or Microsoft Office, etc.
ARJ is one of many archivers that pack data into their own type of archive directories (with the “.arj” extension). True, it works in DOS mode and is in demand among users working in DOS. As an alternative to this DOS packer, the RAR archiver, which also operates in DOS mode, is often used.
WinAce is a “multi-format” packer with a clear and user-friendly interface.

An important factor is that most modern archivers already “understand” files with long names. If for Windows packers this is rather the rule, then for DOS packers it is an exception. When unzipped, the data they pack acquires “strange” names.

Most modern archivers are universal, fast programs that work with archives of various file systems and designs.

Online archivers

Today you can find interesting document archiving services on the Internet. They do not require prior installation of the program on the user's computer. Most of them don't even save a copy of your archive file on the server. Photos, text, graphics and other data formats can be packed into an archive directly in the browser in a couple of clicks.

Let's take, for example, the zip archiver service located at this link. The service interface is so simple that even a small child can easily understand it:

In the top panel we see the name of the service. Below is a line warning that the files will be compressed in the browser and a copy of them will not “go” to the server. Even lower, you can use the offer to select the desired files for compression. Next comes a line warning that a zip file will be generated and saved on the user's computer.

When selecting files that you need to archive, you can hold down the Ctrl key, mark several files or “circle” them with the mouse cursor. If several files are selected, you will be asked to confirm their download. If only one file was selected, the service will instantly create an archive.

In all cases, the result will be an archive. You, in turn, can check the archiving result:

By default, the archive will be saved in the folder C:\Users\Username\Downloads.

The service does not archive the entire folder; you will have to open it and manually tell it what data you want to include in the archive. As you can see, the compression ratio is not very high, but the service is convenient if you urgently need to create a simple archive and, for example, send it by mail.

Creating a ZIP or RAR archive

Data archiving can be done using the context menu if at least one of the archivers is already installed on your computer. Select one or more files:

As you can see, we have selected 6 files. Now right-clicking on one of them will bring up a context menu:

As you can see, functional options for working with files are displayed. Here you can see that two archivers are installed at once - “7zip” (1) and Winrar (2). We are interested in the last option. What can we do now with the selected files? We can:

Create a new archive - in this case, an archiver window will open, where the user is free to: change the file name, select its format, specify the compression method, set additional parameters, create a password for the archive.
Create a new archive;
Add files to an existing archive.

As you can see, all these manipulations did not take us too much time, but unlike the online archiver, here we have the opportunity to set the necessary parameters for the archived data.

Send by email

There are several ways to send an archived document. For example, using standard Windows tools “Sending to recipient” in the context menu.

First, let's look at how to attach an archive for sending by mail from the standard “Send to recipient” tool, and then from your mailbox.

Select the archive and right-click on it and select “ Send» → « Destination" . The message sending program window will open.
The second step will be to enter the address (2) or use the address book (3). The archive you want to send will already be present in the attachment (1). .
The last step is to send an email to the specified address.

Now let's look at sending from a mailbox. I will do this using Rambler mail. If you don't have a mailbox at all, then get one. There you are .

Log in to your mailbox and click the " Write». ;
In the window that opens, you can specify: address (2), subject of the letter (3), text of the letter itself (4) with formatting options (5) and finally attach your archive (6).

That's all you need to do to create an archive file and send it by mail.

Conclusion

OK it's all over Now. Today we talked a little about archivers - special programs for convenient data packaging. Now you can archive files yourself and send them by mail.

Sooner or later, almost every computer user is faced with the need to archive files or extract data from an archive. It is likely that you can easily do without archiving, without knowing anything about it or using it. A logical question arises: then why is file archiving needed? Let's say you are going to send a large number of files, such as photographs, to someone over the Internet. You can add them one at a time or several at a time, but it’s easy to get confused and will take a lot of time. And here archive photos It will be much easier and more convenient, not only for you, but also for the recipient. This is just one example; the ability to work with archiving programs can be useful in other situations. Now let's look directly at how to archive files.

How to archive a file, folder and other documents?

For this we need an archiver. Personally, I recommend you the program, since it is completely free, unlike some others, and easy to use. You can download it by clicking on the following link - http://7-zip.org.ua/ru

So, downloaded, installed, it's time to find out how to archive files.
We select the files that we want to archive. Call the context menu by right-clicking on them. We look for the 7-Zip program, select the “Add to archive” option.

In the window that appears, you can set archiving settings.

We will not touch most of the settings; they are set as expected by default. We are interested in the following points:

Archive - you can enter the name that the archive will have;
Archive format - I advise you to just select 7z and not bother;
Compression level - choose here depending on the ones you are compressing and their size. For example, if your goal is archive video or other large files, to reduce their size and free up some space on your computer, select Maximum or Ultra. If you just need archive photos to send over the Internet, it is better to choose Fast, High-Speed or No compression at all, if there are not many photos and the total size is not large.

This completes the settings in this window; it is better not to change the remaining parameters. The only thing is that you can also set a password for the archive if you are very concerned about the confidentiality of the data you send or simply want to protect any important documents on your computer.

To do this, simply enter your password and repeat it. To avoid confusion and mistakes, you can click Show password - then the characters you enter will be displayed, and not asterisks instead. Just keep in mind that although you won’t be able to open or extract files from the archive without a password, the contents of the archive are still displayed. So an outsider will be able to see the type and name of the files in the archive.

So, we have set the settings, click OK. After some time, depending on the size of the files, the archive is ready.

If you are interested, how to archive a folder, then everything is exactly the same here, only at the very beginning we right-click on the desired folder. Now let’s consider the reverse process, that is.

Extracting the archive.

Since we have several files in the archive, we first create a folder for them by right-clicking on a free area.

This way we can carefully extract the files into one place, otherwise they may be scattered and out of order.

Now open the archive and select all or only individual files and click the Extract button at the top of the panel.

In the window that appears, you can select where the files will be extracted. To do this, click the button to select the path, then select the folder. As you can see, you can create an empty folder immediately before extracting files, if you forgot to do this earlier. Confirm your selection, then click OK again.

If you set a password for the archive, a window for entering it will now appear.

As already mentioned, without entering a password, you can see the names, type and size of files in the archive, but you will not be able to open them or extract them without a password. We write the password and click OK, if it exists, and if not, then the files have already been extracted and are in the folder.

How to check whether the archive is intact and whether the files are damaged.

Besides knowledge, how to archive a file, It wouldn’t hurt to be able to check it for integrity. This is quite simple to do: open the archive and click the Test button on the panel at the top.

After testing, a window with the result will appear.

Why and when do you need to test the archive?

Firstly, if some kind of failure occurred or the system froze while adding files to the archive. This way you can find out whether archiving was successful or whether it will have to be done again.
Testing will also be useful if you want archive documents and ensure their safety.
Or if you are archiving a large file to free up disk space, then before deleting the original file, it is better to make sure that the archiving was successful. And if an error is found, simply pack the files into a new archive and delete the old one.

How can I view archive information?

And finally, let’s look at how to find out complete information about the archive. To do this, click the Information button on the program panel.

After this, a window will immediately appear with all the information on the archive that may interest you.

Here, in fact, are all the functions of the program that may be useful to you. Now you know how to archive a file , how to archive a folder and how to extract files from the archive. All that remains is to advise you to experiment a little with compression levels depending on the type and size of the file and determine which compression level is most optimal for your purposes. By the way, as you may have noticed at the beginning of the lesson, access to some archiver functions can also be obtained from the context menu.

From here you can add files to the new archive instantly, the default settings will be used, and the archive will appear in the same folder as the files you are adding.

I hope the lesson is about how to archive files was very informative for you and the knowledge gained will still be useful to you in working with a computer. The main thing is not to stop there, because often ignorance of some little detail significantly complicates the work and requires additional time and action. Thank you for your attention!

Data compression (lossless) is used. Thus, the archive size may be smaller than the size of all the original data it contains. Archives can be used for long-term storage of data, combining a large number of files into one, or reducing the size of data.

Opening the archive is not difficult. supports Zip archives. Therefore, the Zip archive can be opened on any computer with the Windows operating system, even without installing additional programs. To open archives of other types, you need to install a special archiver program. In any case, in order to open the archive, just click on it with the mouse. On the other hand, data archiving is no longer so simple; there may be options. In this material we will talk about how to archive a folder.

How to archive a folder using built-in Windows tools.

You can archive a folder without installing archiving programs. To do this, right-click on the folder and select “Send – Compressed Folder”.

After this, the folder archiving process will start. Archiving time depends on the folder size.

After archiving the folder is completed, a ZIP will appear next to the folder. This is your archive.

By default, the archive icon looks like a regular folder with a zipper.

This method of archiving a folder is very simple, but it does not provide the user with the ability to control the archiving process. Therefore, if you need to regularly archive folders and files, then it is better to install an archiver program.

How to archive a folder using the 7zip archiver.

The 7zip program is the most advanced and popular. Compared to the equally popular, but paid, WinRAR archiver, the 7zip archiver has only one drawback - the inability to create archives in the RAR format. Otherwise, 7zip is in no way inferior.

You can download the 7zip program on the website. After installing the 7zip program, a new menu item “7-Zip” will appear in the context menu of folders and files. Using this item you can archive a folder or files.

Let's look at the “7-Zip” menu items:

Add to archive – a window with archiving settings will open. Here you can specify the compression level, as well as other data.
Compress and send by email – the same as the previous point, but with subsequent sending by email.
Add to “file name.7z” – the folder will be archived in 7z format using standard settings.
Compress into “file name.7z” and – the same as the previous paragraph, but with subsequent sending by email.
Add to “file name.zip” – the folder will be archived in zip format using standard settings.
Compress to “file name. zip" and send by email - the same as the previous point, but with subsequent sending by email.

To access all archiving settings, use the “Add to archive” menu item.

In the “Add to Archive” window you can specify the archive format, compression level, encryption settings and other settings. To start the archiving process, just click on the “OK” button.

In this lesson you will learn about archiver programs, you will be able to download one of these programs and install it on your computer, and you will also learn how to archive files and retrieve them from the archive.

What is an archiver

An archiver is a special program with which you can archive files (folders with files) and retrieve them from the archive. In other words, it is a program that helps you compress files and package them for easier sending by email.

Now we will check whether such a program exists on your computer.

To do this, open any folder, for example, “Documents” or “Local Drive D”. Right click on any file or any folder inside. A menu will open. If, among other things, there is an item “Add to archive” or an item “7 Zip”, then you have an archiver program on your computer.

And if you don’t see anything similar, then most likely it doesn’t exist on your computer. But it doesn't matter. A little later we will download a free archiver and install it on your computer. But first, let's talk about what they are.

What types of archivers are there?

Like most programs, archivers can be paid or free. That is, those that can be legally and completely free of charge downloaded from the Internet and installed on your computer, and those for which you need to pay money. If, when you checked whether such a program was installed on your computer, you saw items that begin with the words “Add to archive” (or “Add to”), then a paid archiver is installed on your computer. It's called WinRaR.

And if, when checking, you found item 7 Zip, then a free archiver is installed on your computer.

WinRaR is an excellent, very convenient program, but, alas, it is paid. If it is on your computer, then there are two options: either you don’t need to pay for it and you can use it as much as you like, or after some time it will stop working. We'll check this a little later. And if it turns out that you have an “inferior” version, then it makes sense to download and install the free 7 Zip archiver.

How to archive files/folders (WinRaR)

Now let's move on to practice. Now we will learn how to compress files and folders using the WinRaR program. If you have the 7 Zip program installed on your computer, then feel free to go below - there is information for you. If you have neither one nor the other, then even lower :)

As you may have guessed, we are interested in items that begin with the words “Add to archive.”

We need the second item in this series. For me it’s called “Add to “Folder.rar” to the archive.” You will have almost the same item, only instead of “Folder.rar” the name of your file (folder) .rar will be written.

Now let's see how much the size has decreased. Right-click on the file or folder you compressed. From the list, select “Properties”.

Now right-click on the new archive file and select “Properties”.

But this doesn't always happen. For example, if you compress photos, videos or music this way, the size may remain the same or change very slightly. To compress photos, music and videos, other programs are used, not archivers.

Now let’s learn how to unarchive, that is, get information from archives.

Actually, you don't have to do this. Try just opening the archive file. Inside you will see what has been archived. And it opens completely calmly. But still it is not very convenient. Therefore, it is better to pull out information from the archive.

Close the window and right-click on this file. We are interested in two similar items - “Extract to current folder” (or “Extract Here”) and “Extract to some name" (or "Extract to some name»).

If, when you opened the archive, there was one file or one folder in the middle of the window, then click “Extract Here”. And if there were several files (folders), click “Extract to some name"(Extract to some name).

That's all. After you click on the desired item, the files or folders will be extracted and the archive can be deleted.

Now let's find out which version of the WinRaR program you have - the one that will stop working over time, or the one that will work constantly.

To do this, we need to open any archive file. When it opens, in this window, click on “Help” or “Help” (at the top) and select “About...” from the list.

A small window will appear. If it says “40 days trial copy”, then this means that your program will stop working in the near future. It makes sense to download a free archiving program (read about this below).

And if this window says “Owner of the copy” or “Registered to”, then the program will work - you don’t have to worry, you don’t have to download anything. And there is no need to read further either.

How to Zip and Unzip Files/Folders (7 Zip)

A free archiver is installed on your computer (how to determine this was discussed just above). It's called 7 Zip. And now we will learn how to use it.

First, let's learn how to archive files and folders. This is done very simply. Right-click on a file or folder with files. The following list will appear.

We are interested in item 7 Zip. Point it at him. An additional list will appear. In this list we are only interested in one item, in my example it is called “Add to “Folder.zip””.

Instead of “Folder.zip” you will have a different name, but also with the ending .zip

Click on this item. Perhaps a window like this will appear for a while. Wait for it to disappear.

Now look carefully at the files and folders. A new file should appear. It will look something like this:

This is the file or folder that you archived.

Now let's see how much the size has decreased. Right-click on the file or folder you compressed. From the list, select “Properties”.

A new window will appear. Remember the size and close it.

Now right-click on the new archive file and select “Properties”.

Most likely, its size will be smaller than the size of the original file (folder).

But this doesn't always happen. For example, if you compress photos, videos or music this way, the size may remain the same or change very slightly. To reduce it, completely different programs are used.

Now let’s learn how to unzip, that is, get files and folders.

Actually, you don't have to do this. Try just opening the archive. Inside you will see the files and folders that have been added to it. And they open quite calmly. But still it is not very convenient. Therefore, it is better to pull information from the archives. After all, at any moment you can return it back, just as we did above.

Before you extract information from an archive file, open it.

An unusual window will open. Look in the middle - it shows files or folders that are hidden in the archive. That is, if we unzip it, then these files (folders) will come out.

Close the window and right-click on this file. In the list, point to “7 Zip”. An additional list will appear. We are interested in two similar items - “Extract Here” and “Extract to some name\" (Extract to some name\).

If, when you opened the archive, there was one file or one folder in the middle of the window, then click “Extract Here”. And if there were several files (folders), then “Extract to some name\" (Extract to some name\).

That's all. After you click on the desired item, the files or folders will be retrieved and the archive can be deleted.

Let me remind you once again that the 7 Zip program is free archiver.

Download free archiver

If you don’t have an archiver on your computer, you can download and install it completely free of charge. This program is called 7 Zip. You can download it at this address: