If you hear someone refer to a "zip" file they are talking about a file that has been "zipped" or compressed. Do not confuse a zip file with a zip disk. A zip file is a compressed file, while a zip disk refers to a 100-MB or 250-MB  floppy disk that accompanies a zip drive made by Iomega Corporation.

We commonly refer to files as having been "zipped" or "unzipped", regardless of the actual program used to compress or uncompress. Zipping refers to compressing or archiving files while unzipping means uncompressing the files.

An archive file is a file that contains one or more files. The files within the archive have been compressed to save space. The most common file extensions for archives are ZIP, LZH, ARJ or ARC.

You may have encountered zip files while downloading from the Internet. This is a very common occurrence. The ZIP file has become the defacto standard in transferring information over the Internet. Sharing information from your computer seems to be common practice. We share jokes, share pictures and share e-mail and (though it is frowned on and can be illegal) share programs. The Internet itself is one massive worldwide sharing session.

The quicker we get this shared information, whatever it may be, the happier we seem to be. If we can find a way to compress large amounts of information into a smaller size, it can do several things:

• Take up less space on your computer system.

• Possibly fit on one floppy disk

• Sent via e-mail more quickly

If you want to keep your old data but want it to take up less space, consider archiving or zipping it. You will still be able to unzip it later should you need this information.

Software developers use the self extracting zip file to send entire programs via the internet. The user does not need to own or know how to use the standard unzip or extract program. The unzip features are built into the self extracting file.

A self-extracting zip file is an executable program (. EXE file) that includes a zip file and software to extract (unzip) the file itself. By running the .EXE file by itself, the files are automatically extracted without the need to own or install the unzip program.

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