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Computer files often contain repetitive data. For example, the word 'Mississippi' could be compressed to eliminate repetitive letter sequences by turning the 'iss' sequence into a special symbol for a net savings of 4 characters. That might not seem like much, going from 11 characters to 7, but you saved 37% on the space the word would have taken.
On a larger scale, many types of computer files can be compressed to a 1.5:1 ratio, meaning a 1.5 megabyte file would take only 1 megabyte. Some files can even be compressed as far as 2:1 (half original size) or more.
Files for transfer over the internet (email, web) are often compressed. Since the files are smaller, they take less time to transfer and take up less room.
It's difficult to read or use a compressed file though, which presents one of the few disadvantages to compressing files. While it is possible in some situations to edit a compressed file, they are still generally used only to transfer files over the internet or on disk. Once they get where they need to be, the files are decompressed and used normally.
In the early days of the PC, there were many methods of compressing files. These days however, the "Zip" method has emerged as the standard. While referred to as Zipfiles, they are *not* related to "Zip disks," a trademark registered by a company that makes high-capacity floppy disks and drives. Zipfiles can of course be stored on a Zip disk just like any other disk, but apart from the unfortunate common name they are two very different things.
WinZip is the name of one of many software packages that can read and write compressed Zipfiles. It's shareware, meaning you can try it free for 30 days and if you decide to continue using it, you must register it. A single-user license is $29. Site licenses can be obtained with discounts based on quantity starting at $22 a seat. The program can be downloaded from www.winzip.com.
Compression software like WinZip use what's called 'lossless' compression and error-correction technology, meaning that a file compressed and then decompressed is absolutely identical to the original. You can be sure your data is safe during the process.
Another benefit to modern compression software like WinZip is that very large files that would not normally be able to fit onto a single floppy diskette can be 'spanned' or cut up and written across several disks, to be reassembled into the original whole on the destination computer. While the process sounds complicated, the software takes care of everything -- all the user has to do is feed the disks when the program asks for them.
A fringe benefit is the ability to compress many files into a single Zipfile. This makes it easy to move multiple files around as one file.
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last updated 11.24.04
