Gulraiz wrote: > > Hi, > Can anyone tell me about zip softwares, what are they and for what > purposes are they used ? Also what is the function of WinZip and PkZip? > TIA > > Gulraiz Anwar ... Don't feel left out, we all had to start somewhere. PkZip and it's complementary brother PkUnzip together accomplish the same thing as Winzip. However PkZip/PkUnzip are MSDOS not windows oriented - Yes PkZip now has a windows version but its not as commonly used. WinZip is ONLY for use with windows. These zip related products (and others) all will convert files / subdirectories / folders to a '????.zip' format. It will not matter which you use to do this conversion the others will un-convert the item you zip up. Why do this? Generally a zipped file is at least 1/2 the size as the unzipped version (I have had 1 Access database file shrink from 130 MBytes down to 34 MBytes). The only problem is you will have to unzip the file before you can use it again. In the case I mentioned, on a 166mhz pentium with 128 MB RAM, and 14GB of hard disk, it only takes 2-3 min depending on what else is happening, BUT, that is a lot more machine than most users have. Good luck, yours :) Jim Baber PCSOFT: http://nospin.com or [log in to unmask]