Windows XP Compressed Folders
2/10

I've given this a crappy rating because its really a rubbish solution for handling zips and although its pretty simple, if you download a lot of custom content you're likely to find this slow and irritating to use.

One major negative of this 'program' is that it only supports zips, rar and 7zip certainly aren't supported, neither are any of the other 'minority' archive formats. Another is that it does not support the extraction of multiple zips AND you can't actually use it to create a zip so if you're intending to share content with other people get a proper zip program!

The reason it scored 2 positive points is a) because its free and already on your computer if you have Windows XP or Windows Vista and b) if you know how to navigate your computer then you already know how to use Windows Compressed folders.

 

Setting Up Windows XP Compressed Folders
There is no set up required for this as it is a native component of your Windows Operating system and should be enabled by default unless zip files are associated with a different program.

If you want to use this feature but find your zips are opening with something else when you right click or double click on them then we suggest this topic here on File Associations and how to change or repair them.

Although this might seem an odd place to suggest such a thing, you can actually DISABLE this feature in Windows - I haven't tried this method so I suggest setting a system restore point before doing this just in case!

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=259

 

Using Windows XP Compressed Folders
To open a zip file with this program, simply double click on the zip as you would do to run a program or open a Windows folder. 

You can't modify the contents of the zip but otherwise it is just like a normal Windows folder, you can drag and drop the contents of the zip into the folder you want them to be in or you can select them and copy them into their destination folder. 

Simply close the folder window once you are done or click back to return to the previous folder view. Rinse and repeat for additional zips, unfortunately you can only do one at a time!

 

Get Support for Windows XP Compressed Folders
Frankly if you can't use this program or it doesn't work for you I'd really strongly urge you to try installing a proper zip program from the list available.

Otherwise if you're determined then please go to the Microsoft Support website for further information.