File Compression

MoneyMan

Hi,

Does anyone know of any free file compression software.

OS: Vista 32-bit

Thanks

HoofeHearted

7-Zip is very good and free. :j

oldwiring

FWIW Just-Zipit works for me.It's free also

Something I remain ignorant of is whether some compress more effectively than others and likewise when re-uncompressed.. Thoughts on that?

MoneyMan

HoofeHearted wrote: »

7-Zip is very good and free. :j

Not impressed with 7-zip as it appears to increase the file size!!

BillScarab

What are you trying to compress?

Remember some file types like JPG are already compressed so trying to compress them again doesn't do anything.

aliEnRIK

WINRAR ~
http://www.filehippo.com/download_winrar/

John_Gray

When PKZIP first came out (at the end of the 80s) there was some correspondence about compressing a file multiple times, to make it even smaller each time. This thread stopped abruptly when someone asked what would happen if you compressed the file so many times that there was only a single bit of data left? (And when people actually tried it, only to find a small overhead increase each time!).

Now compression is virtually redundant, since disks are SO BIG...!

BillScarab

John_Gray wrote: »

When PKZIP first came out (at the end of the 80s) there was some correspondence about compressing a file multiple times, to make it even smaller each time. This thread stopped abruptly when someone asked what would happen if you compressed the file so many times that there was only a single bit of data left? (And when people actually tried it, only to find a small overhead increase each time!).

Now compression is virtually redundant, since disks are SO BIG...!

We still use compressed files a lot at work. When we building servers in remote locations and installing software it does save a fair bit of time in ftp'ing files around.

I never use them at home anymore though.

fermi

John_Gray wrote: »

When PKZIP first came out (at the end of the 80s) there was some correspondence about compressing a file multiple times, to make it even smaller each time. This thread stopped abruptly when someone asked what would happen if you compressed the file so many times that there was only a single bit of data left?

Reminds me of the Homoeopathy nonsense. :rotfl:

savemoney

You can compress jpegs, winzip has a algorithm just for them and can get around 20-30%

BillScarab wrote: »

What are you trying to compress?

Remember some file types like JPG are already compressed so trying to compress them again doesn't do anything.

fermi

BillScarab wrote: »

We still use compressed files a lot at work. When we building servers in remote locations and installing software it does save a fair bit of time in ftp'ing files around.

Indeed. Frequently accessed content and config files tend to be in uncompressed form.

DL'ing source code for apps is another one. If it was not compressed (gzipped, bzipped or whatever) it would take much much longer.

Linux kernel source. Normally 250 MB +. Compressed, 50-70 MB.