ZIP Files

[SignsNSuch]

I have probably a dumb question but here goes.

We often need to email large files to one of our sub-contractors...........I think our email size limit is like 2-4MB. Sometimes these files I need to send have been as large as 40MB.

Is there not a way I can compress these files into a ZIP file for emailing purposes??

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am completely lost when it comes to knowing how to compress files into a ZIP format......

[vidster]

Hiya SignsNSuch

For the purpose of sending zip files via email i would recommend Winrar. Once you install it you can simply right click on the file you want to send and there will be an option to 'compress and Email'. The person you are Emailing would need Winrar too though.
I believe you could also achieve the same by right clicking on the file, select 'Send To' and select 'Compressed (zipped) Folder'. You can then just drag and drop the zipped file into an Email.

Hope this helps

[s7p9a2m4]

Winrar is a fine program but not free.

Other free programs will do just as well such as 7zip, Izarc, Iceows, zipgenious, bigspeedzipper, and Tugzip to name a few. I do not know what kind of files you need to archive but some formats archive better than others depending on file types. 7zip is one of the most effective. Many programs will handle several formats including 7zip. I've had good success with Izarc.

You will never compress 40 mb to 4 mb.

http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/downloader/fwzip.html

[vidster]

Originally Posted by s7p9a2m4

Winrar is a fine program but not free.

It is if you dowload it from download.com and never check for updates

[reverse side]

How about using Gmail that has spacious 10MB attachment limits and some kind of splitting'n'splicing software... or host the files on anybody's webspace they get free with their domestic ISP... or sign-up with a (free) website making site (e.g. Angelfire) and host it there with some encryption on the file itself (1GB bandwidth's not unheard of), or use some P2P application to share it with a dripfeed download over a few hours... or put it on a media card & post it?

Any goers?

[edit: or without even emailing the files, upload them on the Gmail account and give the sub-contractor the address and password and let them download direct from this utility/communal account ]

[s7p9a2m4]

Angelfire is a great website host.

Other methods for large files are http and ftp servers. P2p is another good idea. But you normally need to work with ip addresses and people with routers and firewalls can have a lot of trouble.

Here are some online services.

http://www.yousendit.com/
http://www.dropload.com/

[mercman90]

A good utility is Power Archiver. The 2001 version is available here. This version is free, but the new 2004 version is not. It has several other formats over just the integrated Windows Zip utility.

[JimP]

Originally Posted by SignsNSuch

I have probably a dumb question but here goes.

We often need to email large files to one of our sub-contractors...........I think our email size limit is like 2-4MB. Sometimes these files I need to send have been as large as 40MB.

Is there not a way I can compress these files into a ZIP file for emailing purposes??

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am completely lost when it comes to knowing how to compress files into a ZIP format......

Hi, If I remember correctly most EMail handlers compress the file before transmission and uncompress at the other end to gain speed. If it still works that way there will be no gain by you compressing them before sending them. Already compressed files will be recompressed very little if at all. Give it a try and see what happens. Hope this helps a little, Jim

[xcrunner503]

easiest way is to upload it on www.megaupload.com or www.rapidshare.de or make an account at www.come2store.com, upload the file then give the person a link to the uploaded file so they can downlaod it. easy as pie.