This tutorial will teach you how to install Winzip. Winzip is not included with Windows. It must be installed separately. It is also not a free program (it is $30, with a 30-day free trial). However Winzip is so useful and so widely used that you may find it worthwhile to download and install.

There are other "zip" programs available. Winzip is one of the most well known.

(Winzip has no connection with Screenbooks)

Winzip does two things:

• It combines a list of files you select into a master file, called a zip file, or an archive file.
• It compresses this zip file.

It also can uncompress the zip file and extract all of the original files to their original size and format.

Winzip is useful for:

• Backing up a set of files . Since the files are placed in a single zip file and since this zip file is compressed, the files are easier to move and they take up less space.
• Sending a set of files to someone via email . Many people have limits file size when sending an attached file. You can "zip" a bunch of files and attach them to an email, and the total size might be much less than that of the original files (the amount of compression depends on the file type. Most graphics files do not compress at all).
• Many programs that you can download from the Internet are in zip format . The original (unzipped) program files are usually several files, including a "setup" program that "installs" the program on your hard disk. Installing the program means getting the program ready to run, which usually includes things like writing an entry for the program into the Start menu. If you do not have Winzip or a similar program, you can't unzip these programs, so, you can't install them.

To install Winzip, go to this site .

The site design changes frequently, but you should be able to find an item Download Evaluation Version.

There may be several download locations for the same file. Choose Download Winzip 8.0 (or higher version, if there is one).

A page similar to the one shown will appear briefly.

Then, the File Download dialog should appear after a few moments.

Select Save this program to disk.

Then select OK.

The Save As dialog will appear. (This dialog was covered in a previous tutorial. It is the same dialog you will see in most Windows programs when you want to save a file.)

You will be downloading the installation file and then running it. After you run the installation, you won't need the installation file any more, so you will delete it. So, a good place to put this file for now is on your desktop. It will be easy to find, and you can remove it later.

Be sure the Desktop is selected in the Save in: input box.

The filename has already been filled in. You can leave this as it is.

Click Save to start downloading the installation file to your desktop.

A dialog showing the download progress will appear.

When the download is completed, the button indicated is captioned Close.

Click on the Close button, and the dialog closes.

Return to your desktop (minimize all windows). The file you downloaded appears on the desktop. (If you don't see a colored icon, you may have had a problem with the download and will have to try downloading again).

Double clicking on the Winzip icon starts the setup program.

Click Setup to start the setup process.

The Winzip setup starts. You are then prompted for an installation folder. You can accept the default as shown.

Winzip will lead you through several dialogs. This is the first. Click Next.

Click 1 to view the license agreement.

Click 2 to continue with the installation.

Click Next.

Select Winzip Classic, then click Next.

(The Winzip Wizard is for people who don't know how to use the full program - probably because the don't have a good tutorial like this one :-)

Leave the Express setup selected, and click Next.

This screen is informing you that Winzip will be "associated" to automatically start when you double-click on files with a ".zip" extension, and with some other extensions. Click Next.

Click Finish to finish the installation.

After the installation, Winzip will have been started. Winzip by default displays a "Tip of the Day " screen when starting. Click Close to close the Tip of the day dialog.

Behind the Tip of the day dialog is the main window of Winzip.

Using Winzip to "zip" files will be covered in the next tutorial in this series.