Skip to content Downloading files from the Internet has always been one of the most popular activities on the Internet – third to sending email and browsing the web. We download files from software libraries, ftp directories, YouTube and Google Video, MP3 sites, and we download files sent to us as email attachments.
Being so popular an activity, it’s imperative that you compress the files destined for another computer. File compression combines a number of different files into one file, and it can also significantly reduce a very large file to a smaller one.
As a result, the transmission of a compressed file across the Internet is faster and smoother. This article looks at compressed files a little closer and it describes how to compress and decompress them using two of the most popular archiving programs.
Identifying Compressed Files
Most files are compressed in .zip format (if you’re using Windows) or .sit format (if you’re using a Mac). The two most popular software programs used to compress and decompress files are Winzip and StuffIt respectively. There are other programs that do the same thing and there are even programs that can compress and decompress files for both the Windows and the Mac system. However, since Winzip and StuffIt are the most popular, we will assume you will use either one to compress and decompress your own files.
If you download a compressed file from a website or file library that ends in an .exe extension, take note that although the file is compressed, it’s typically a file that will install a program onto a computer. .Zip or .Sit files don’t install software – they merely archive a collection of them into one, or they significantly reduce the size of a larger one.