This guide is a basic walkthrough of how to use WinZip, one of the most popular compression utilities around. WinZip is available for download at the http://www.winzip.com/index.htm . You will first need to download and install WinZip using the "WinZip Classic" setting for this guide to be of use.

WinZip Tutorial

This guide is a basic walkthrough of how to use WinZip, one of the most popular compression utilities around.


WinZip is available for download at http://www.winzip.com/index.htm . You will first need to download and install WinZip using the "WinZip Classic" setting for this guide to be of use.



If you have previously installed WinZip using the WinZip Wizard mode I recommend switching it to the Classic mode by clicking the WinZip Classic Button.



Once WinZip has been installed it integrates itself into the Windows Shell. That means that it is a program that runs with Windows it's self and it is not necessary for you to launch WinZip to use it.



Mouse Basics

Each mouse has a left and right mouse button. It is extremely important to be able to differentiate between the left and right mouse button in this tutorial. When I say "right mouse click" or "right click" it is necessary for you to use the right mouse button on your mouse. It is only necessary to use the right mouse button when so stated. If no button is specified you will need to use the normal left mouse button.



File Extensions

Depending on how your system is configured you may not see the file name extensions on the file name. For example when I say the file name should be "Whatever.zip" your system may hide the ".zip" from the end of the file. In cases like this you will only see the "Whatever" file name without the extension. This does not mean it is not working. It simply means your system is set to "Hide file extensions for known file types". This is a Windows option that I will not be going into.





Unzipping Files

To unzip a file, right mouse click on the file that you want to unzip. From the sub-menu that appears go to WinZip -> Extract to folder (File Name) and click on Extract to folder (File Name) . The file will unzip to a folder with the file name as the folder name. For example, if the name of the zipped file is "Glowstick Tutorial 1 - Figure 8" then the folder created will be "Glowstick Tutorial 1 - Figure 8". All of the individual files inside the zip will be extracted to the folder.





Zipping A Single File

To zip a file, right mouse click on the file you want to zip. From the sub-menu that appears go to vWinZip -> Add to (File Name).zip and click on Add to (File Name).zip . A zip file will then be created with the file name as the zip files name. For example, if the name of the file is "Glowstick Tutorial 2 - Stomach Circles" the zip file created will be "Glowstick Tutorial 2 - Stomach Circles.zip"





Zipping Multiple Files

There are many different ways to zip multiple files. I've found the easiest way to zip multiple files together is to place all of the files you want to zip into a new folder and then zip the entire folder. To create a new folder, right click on a blank spot (as in - do not click on a file or folder, but on the background) go to New -> Folder and click on Folder . A new folder named "New Folder" will appear. You can immediately name the folder what ever you want. Place whatever files you want zipped into the folder. Once you have all of the files you want to zip in the folder, right click on the folder. From the sub-menu that appears go to WinZip -> Add to (Folder Name).zip and click on Add to (Folder Name).zip . A zip file will then be created with the folder name as the zip file's name. For example, if the name of the folder is "Glowstick Tutorial's 1 & 2" the zip file created will be "Glowstick Tutorial's 1 & 2.zip". All files in the folder will be in the zip file.



This concludes the WinZip tutorial. For more information on the use of Winzip please visit http://www.winzip.com/index.htm