Have you ever heard someone talk about "zipping" files, or had someone request that you "zip" a file before you send it to them? Zipped files are a convenient way to send multiple files as one file. Another benefit to zipping files is that in general, most zipping programs compress the file; this means the file can be made smaller in size (until unzipped). In a nutshell this means that you can send several files, all packaged up as one and that it will be smaller in size; the perfect solution for sending files over a network or through the internet.

Another desirable trait of .zip files is that they can be password protected and encrypted. Windows has a built in "zipping" program; however it does not offer the password protection and encryption abilities that paid for commercial applications do. As I just mentioned there are several commercial applications available for creating .zip files, and these programs offer a lot of other functionality as well. A couple of good examples are WinZip and WinRAR.

My favorite "zipping" application is 7-Zip. It can zip, unzip and provides password protection, encryption, and several other features. Best of all you can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization for the low, low price of free.

You can view the license information for 7-Zip at 7-Zip license.

You can download 7-Zip at www.7-zip.org.