ddhr.org - Windows XP zip

Date: 2006 | 02 | 23

Windows XP zip (5)

Feb 23, 2006

I'm amazed that people who use Windows XP still use products like WinZip, 7-Zip, and other file compression utilities. Windows XP comes pre-installed with the capability to zip files from the right-click menu. Just right-click on the file, click on Send To, and click on Compressed (zipped) Folder. That's it. Get rid of WinZip and those other stupid programs that cost money.

The one thing Windows still lacks is the ability to open RAR, TAR, and GZ files. That's where something like WinRAR comes in. #technology

Comments

Rich

Feb 24, 2006

Windows XP also lacks the ability to handle large .zip files without crashing. On different PC's, without exception, any time I've tried extracting, browsing, or making a .zip that's a few hundred megabytes, it hangs, and eventually crashes explorer. Not fun. I like WinRAR, but am using WinAce right now (mainly because its prettier and puts less stuff in the context menu). I like the native support of .zip in theory, but I won't use it until a) it can handle large archives, and b) it won't drag down the whole OS if it does mess up. I might settle for the stopgap of at least c) It won't try to open/make a file that will crash it, instead just flashing a warning. The ability to at least extract other archive formats would be nice too, but my heart will go on if I don't get that.

Dave

Feb 24, 2006

My computer has no problem handling large zip files. It takes a while to extract files that are several hundred MBs, but it works. Are you still using one of those AMD chips? Give in and drink the Intel Kool-Aid.

Rich

Feb 24, 2006

Actually, I'm still using the very same AMD chip if you can believe that! But like I said, I've never gotten it to work on any of a few computers, to be more specific (from what I can remember):
AMD Athlon 700, Via KT100 chipset, 512 MB RAM
Intel PIII 733, Intel i810 chipset, 256 MB RAM (Dell)
Intel PIII 666, Intel i810 chipset, 384 MB RAM (Dell)
Intel PIII 1000, unknown intel chipset, 256 MB RAM (Dell)
So basically it won't work on my computer or any old Dell I've tried it on. It's probably hanging because it needs more processor speed (512 MB RAM should be enough), and the hang leads to a crash. I really would mind a lot less if it didn't bring down the whole shell. One time I was able to extract a .zip that was about 100 MB without a crash, but it took like an hour. With winRAR it took about 10 minutes. (I don't remember the exact times, but there was a big difference) The moral of this story? I need a new computer...
And for the record, I'm gonna stick with the AMD Kool-Aid. Their architechture has more headroom, performs better on the applications I use, and is much more platform loyal than Intel. (That doesn't mean I'll invest in them again, though. I've learned my lesson!)

PaRa

Apr 12, 2007

The built in ZIp handler in XP and Win2003 is *very* poor at handling large archives. The reason is that it want's to extract the entire archive to %temp% when you open it, trashing the disk with file operations and hogging memory/CPU. WinZIP, for instance, only reads the archive *list* and presents the contents of the archive but doesn't start any extraction until you choose to. It's mind boggeling how short sighted Microsoft is sometimes.

/PaRadiZer

Dave

Apr 18, 2007

I still haven't noticed a problem, so I'll be depending on Microsoft's short-sightedness to unzip my files.