The catch was that, because the zip function was built into Windows, there was no separate program for zip files. This lets you change a file association to a different program, should you so wish.

You can see this in XP by opening Windows Explorer, clicking Tools, selecting Folder Options, then going to the tab marked File Types.

With millions of programs using hundreds of file formats, some Windows XP users started to use the properties sheet for file associations. This was useful without being powerful enough to stop users who wanted a more sophisticated zip program from buying an alternative, which might lead to further anti-trust lawsuits. In 1998, Microsoft built zip file support into Windows to offer 'compressed folders', which would enable users to store more files on their hard drives. This file format became popular and it was 'given freely into the public domain', so lots of other companies used it. Help! If I escape, what programs would open zip files in future?įiles were originally zipped and unzipped using PKZip, a program written by the late Phil Katz (PK) in 1989. I have been told that Vista has 'associated' zip files with Adobe Reader and I cannot find any way to effect dis-association.

I've tried countless ways to change this without success. As a result, I received then and ever after, a message saying Adobe 9 cannot open the file. As I did not have the faintest idea, I ticked the first one on the list, which happened to be Adobe Reader 9. When I switched to Vista, however, the first time I wanted to unzip something, the computer produced a list of installed programmes and asked which one I wanted to unzip the file. I used to send and receive zipped pictures by email without problems using Windows XP.

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