What is File Compression?

File compression is a term used to describe what happens when a large or small group of files on a computer is packed up and converted into one smaller, and more portable file format. file compression is very useful when trying to sent or transfer multiple files at once.

It's a lot like packing a suitcase. Instead of just throwing random articles of clothing into your suitcase without organizing them, you would instead take time to fold said clothing as a way of making them smaller so more items can be transported in that containment unit.

File compression is like that. Only difference is, you don't have to worry about your .zip files getting lost on the way to baggage claims. I mean, you can still lose your files if your not paying attention to wear your storing them. using search in your computer is a lot easier than dealing with incompetent nitwits at the airport, who have no idea what they are doing.

Two of the most common compression/archive formats are .zip(as in speed) and .rar(Roshal ARchive). There are others such as .tar, .iso and .7z, but .zip and .rar are the most popular formats overall.

If you don't already have a program to decompress your files, I recommend 7-Zip. 7-Zip is a lightweight(v4.65 is about 1mb) open-source, with support for a lot of common compression formats, as well as some obscure ones to boot. It's compatible with computers running Linux or Windows.

Mac users could always just use The Unarchiver. This built in OS X utility is pretty good at handling most file formats. Downside is that It's read only though. That means while it can recognize obscure file formats, you won't be able to create archived files using said obscure formats.

Windows users have the option of downloading 7-Zip as I recommenced earlier,, looking into a shareware program called WinRAR, or making due with Microsoft's built in utility. It's sluggish, and doesn't support the wide variety of files most other utilities do. Windows' built in unzipper treats zip files like regular folders. You can just drag and drop files to your desktop, and not have to worry about using any other commands to access files.

Whether you want to send a group of files to a friend, oar transfer information on a thumb drive to another computer, file compression is a useful way of doing so while temporarily decreasing the size of your files.