---------------------------------------------------------------- UNPACKING AND INSTALLING INCLUDING ARCS, ZIPS, LZH AND MORE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Many times a shareware package is quite large and has been compressed or "archived" to fit on the disk. Another use for archiving, or packing many files into one highly compressed file, is to decrease telephone charges and time when transmitting files by modem. In a previous section we indicated the following filename extensions as pertaining to compressed or "archived" files: .ZIP ---------> Compressed file, use PKUNZIP to unpack .ARC ---------> Compressed file, use ARC system .PAK ---------> Compressed file, use PAK system .LZH ---------> Compressed file, use LHARC .ZOO ---------> Compressed file, use ZOO system Let's take a closer look. For example, the file FUN454.ZIP might contain the following files contained within the ZIP archive. FUNNELS EXE FUNNELS DOC FUNNELS INV ATC DAT FUNNELS SCR FUNNELS TXT By the way, in the above example, FUN454.ZIP, we are given the probable clue that this might be Version 4.54 of the program. This is another odd but useful convention when dealing with the shareware community and archived or compressed files. In the shareware trade, one frequently hears the terms "ARCING, ZIPPING, UNZIPPING, LHARCING, PAKING" and similar terms. You can quickly understand that "archive processing" or compressing and uncompressing disk files is what these terms refer to! Not all disks contain archives - some do, some don't. To unpack the program you need a few blank floppies (or a hard drive) and a special unpacking utility program to unpack. If your software needs this utility, it is usually available on one (or several) of your disks or can be ordered from most computer clubs or shareware disk vendors. Here is how to unpack an archive file ending in ZIP. Other files ending in .LZH, .ZOO and other file extensions are quite similar in use. Files which end in .ZIP are unpacked with PKUNZIP.EXE. For our example let's pretend we are unpacking the file SAMPLE.ZIP. Start with a BLANK formatted floppy. Copy the program file you wish to unpack (e.g., SAMPLE.ZIP) and the file PKUNZIP.EXE onto the blank floppy. Hard drive users may prefer to simply copy the file to be unpacked and the unpacking utility PKUNZIP.EXE to their hard drive. For our example, SAMPLE.ZIP and PKUNZIP.EXE are now on a floppy in the A: drive. Next we need a place to put the unpacked files! For computers without a hard drive put a blank formatted floppy in your other empty B: floppy drive. This is where the unpacked newly expanded files will go: the DESTINATION OR TARGET drive for the unpacked software. Hard drive users will probably just unpack to the hard drive (C:) using a subdirectory on the hard drive as the target area. Using the examples which follow, type an unpacking command showing the source drive containing the packed file, the name of file and the final destination drive; press enter or return key after typing the unpacking command. Of course, substitute the name of the file you are using for the file SAMPLE.ZIP. Blank spaces in the command ARE essential. EXAMPLE: A>pkunzip A:SAMPLE.ZIP B: Translation: unpack or unzip all files from the packed file SAMPLE.ZIP contained on the A: floppy drive and send the unpacked files to the B: floppy drive. Press enter or return key after typing the command. EXAMPLE: C>pkunzip C:sample.ZIP B: Unpack files from C: hard drive area to a blank floppy on B: drive. By the way, you can omit the .ZIP file extension for a shortcut. EXAMPLE: C>pkunzip C:sample B: Files are now unpacked and ready to use in the conventional manner - after unpacking you will probably see the readme, text and documentation files you need. The data is now in a more familiar DOS file format. The archive can "inflate" more than 200% from its compressed format in some cases! Some programs are very large and may be submitted to you in several parts. You might find a program which consists of three or four packed .ZIP, .LZH or other archive file(s) on several disks. NOTE! for hard drive users you are usually wise to unpack each program to a separate subdirectory on your hard disk. For example, to use pcwrite you might unpack the files to C:\PCW. Of course, you must first create a subdirectory called PCW on your hard drive BEFORE you start. To prepare a subdirectory, use the DOS md (make directory) command (example c>md pcw.) Hard drive users might wish to delete the original compressed ARC/ZIP files from their hard drive since the unpacked versions are now ready and the original floppies serve as your backup copies. UNPACKING ARCHIVED/COMPRESSED PROGRAMS ON SINGLE FLOPPY SYSTEMS LACKING A HARD DRIVE A problem arises trying to uncompress archived programs on single drive systems. Most computers have at least two drives. On a single drive system you may need to uncompress your programs to a special memory area of the computer called a RAM DRIVE. Your DOS manual covers this option or you can obtain a shareware package which produces a ram drive and thus allows your computer to "think" it has two floppy drives. This is about the only alternative for unpacking software on a single drive machine. Generally single drive computers may not be fully IBM compatible with many modern software packages which may need two drives. Suggest you 1) return disks to vendor for refund or 2) consider adding a second drive as most modern fully compatible machines offer or 3) attempt unpacking with a RAM DRIVE then copy back to disk. Later versions of DOS contain a RAM DRIVE program. You can also obtain RAM DRIVE programs from shareware and other software vendors.