DON'T CONFUSE A ZIP DISK WITH A ZIP FILE

Its confusing, sure.  Zip me the file!  Send me a zip file! Send it to me on a ZIP DISK.   We here these terms all the time and so easily confuse one for the other!

What's the difference?

ZIP FILES

A file that has been "zipped" has been compressed to a smaller size.  Smaller size files transfer faster over the internet.  You can combine many files into one "zip" file in order to send multiple files over the internet or on a floppy disk, CD ROM and yes ZIP DISKS.

ZIP DISKS

A ZIP disk is a special type of floppy disk that can hold up to 100 MB  of information. (250 MB if you have the larger capacity zip disks and a newer Zip Drive)   Only Zip drives can read or write to zip disks. The originator of the Zip Disk is IOMEGA CORPORATION. 

Normally, you will need software to read, extract or uncompress a "zip" file.  You can also create your own "zip" files with this same software.

PKZIP from Pkware, www.pkware.com and WINZIP from Nico Mak Computing, www.winzip.com are the two most popular zip file utilities. These programs are readily available from the Internet, are relatively inexpensive and are a good addition to your software library.

You will need hardware (a zip drive) to read any files that are on a zip disk. Zip drives are installed with your computer and are assigned a drive letter just like any other floppy, CD ROM, DVD or hard drive.