Outlook Assistance

To create a .zip file, right-click a file, such as Government Proposal.doc, and then click a command on the shortcut menu, such as Add to Zip file or Add to Archive, to create Government Proposal.zip. Often the zip utility shortcut menu also includes a command such as Configure or Options to access the zip utility's option settings.

Why use the Zip file

Zipping a file creates a compressed version of the file that is considerably smaller than the original file. The zipped version of the file has a .zip file extension. For example, if you zip a Microsoft Office Word document called Government Proposal.doc that is 6.5 megabytes (MB) in size, the file created, Government Proposal.zip, is reduced to 2.5 MB. File types that are reduced the most as a result of zipping are text-oriented file types, such as .txt, .doc, .xls, and graphics files that use non-compressed file types such as .bmp. Some graphic files, such as .jpg and .gif files, already use compression; therefore, the file size is reduced very little by zipping. Also, a Word document that is full of graphics files does not get reduced as much as a document that is mostly text.

Note Creating a .zip file is also known as "archiving" but has nothing to do with archiving in Microsoft Office Outlook.

Some advantages of zipping a file are:

• You save storage space. Zipping large files can save up to 80 percent or more in hard disk space.
• Smaller file size drastically reduces e-mail transmission time.
• The smaller file size of e-mail messages that you want to keep is useful when your mailbox has a space limit.
• Many zip utilities allow you to encrypt files and protect sensitive data, especially when you send it in e-mail.
• You can send and receive e-mail attachments, such as .exe files, that would otherwise be blocked by Outlook for security reasons.
• Many zip utilities support disk spanning, which means when you create a .zip file on a removable disk and run out of disk space, the utility prompts you to insert additional disks as needed and then continues the process.

• Many zip utilities allow you to create a self-extracting archive. These are archives that compress and package the files that you specify as an executable (.exe) file. When you click the executable file to open it, the .exe has the ability to extract the files from within itself and produce the original files.

Note By default, .exe attachments are blocked by Outlook.