A ZIP file contains one or more files that have been compressed to reduce file size, or stored as-is. The ZIP file format permits a number of compression algorithms, but as of 2009, the Deflate method continues to be dominant.

ZIP files generally use the file extensions ".zip" or ".ZIP" and the MIME media type application/zip, although the ZIP file format has also been used by many programs, usually under a different name. Examples of this usage are Java JAR files, Mozilla Firefox Add-ons (.xpi), id Software .pk3/.pk4 files, Activity Bundles (.xo) for the Sugar learning platform, Winamp and Windows Media Player skins, OpenDocument format and Office Open XML.

A ZIP file is identified by the presence of a central directory located at the end of the file. The directory stores a list of the names of the entries (files or directories) stored in the ZIP file, along with other metadata about the entry, and an offset into the ZIP file, pointing to the actual entry data.

Windows XP and Windows 2003 have built in ZIP file support. It is therefore, very easy to make and extract ZIP files using these operating systems.

If you do not have Zip installed on your computer yet, download Zip and install it on your PC.

Select the file or files or even folder or folders you want to add to be zipped. You can also create a new folder for the document or documents. Right click on it or them and select Send to and then choose Compressed (zipped) Folder.

After that, the files will be zipped, and you can see a file of which the extension is .ZIP.

The file name will be the name of the folder or file you compressed. If you compressed a selection of files, it will be the name of the first file in that selection.

If you have downloaded a Zip file and want to extract it, you can follow the instructions below.

Instructions

Step 1

Right click on a ZIP file and select the Extract All... menu option as shown in the image below:

Step 2

You will now be presented with a screen similar to the one below.

Press the Next button.

Step 3

In this next screen, enter the path where you would like the files to be extracted to, or click the Browse button to select the directory.

Then, click the Next button.

Step 4

The files have now been extracted, and you can choose to show the extracted files or not in the image below.

If you want to see the extracted files, leave the checkmark in place, otherwise, uncheck the box labeled Show extracted files. Then press the Finish button.

Now your files are extracted into the directory you have specified and you can begin to use them.

As you know WinRAR is able to unpack CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, BZ2, JAR, Zip archives. You expect your rar files can be converted to zip files by Winrar. But you have no idea how to convert them. This guide will help you to solve this problm.

WinRAR is a powerful tool which allows you to create, manage and control archive files. It is completely supports rar and zip. In addition, it offers the ability to create selfextracting and multivolume archives. With recovery record and recovery volumes, you can reconstruct even physically damaged archives. And Solid archiving, which can raise compression ratio by 10% - 50% over more common methods, particularly when packing a large number of small, similar files.

Guide on how to convert RAR files to Zip files using Winrar 3.9.

Step 1

Download Winrar 3.9, then install it on your computer.

Step 2

Double click your rar file. Go to Winrar main window. Click Tools in the menu on the top of window. Selec Convert archives.

Step 3

A new window pops up. In the Conversion options section, click the button of Compression....

Tips: In this section you can choose the check box of Delete original archives to delete your original rar files.

Step 4

In the panel of Archive format, make Zip radio able.

Step 5

Click OK button.

Once you have done all the above operation, your rar file is converted to zip file. This operation can not take you more than one minute. It is quite fast and easy. If you are still miserable in converting rar files to zip files, you can follow this guide to make it.