Compress large files faster

What you need: Autozipper; Any Windows version (XP to 10) Time required: 25 minutes

There are many free programs that let you compress files, making it easier to send large photos and videos. Autozipper stands out from the rest because it automatically compresses files. You first create a ‘project’ by adding the

PC folder(s) whose files you want to compress, choosing your compression settings and creatingg a password. You can then compress any modified files in these folders with one click, including any you create in future.

STEP 1

To download the program, go to www.snipca.com/28179 and click the Download button at the top right. Open the downloaded setup file. If you use Windows 7 or 8, you’ll need to use a file-compression program to open it (we recommend Peazip – www.peazip.org). If you use Windows 10, double-click the downloaded zipped file 1 , click the ‘Extract all’ button, choose where you want to save the extracted file 2 , tick the ‘Show extracted files when complete’ box 3 , then click Extract 4 .

STEP 2

The program doesn’t add a desktop icon to your PC. To create one, simply drag and drop the Autozipper setup file from its extracted folder on to your desktop 1 . Open this file to run the program. Windows Defender sometimes identifies the file as a false positive. If you see a ‘Windows protected your PC’ pop-up message, click the ‘More info’ link at the top left, then click the ‘Run anyway’ button (it’s completely safe). To create a new compression ‘project’, click the Create button 2 . You’ll see a larger window with many options.

STEP 3

Name the project whatever you want 1 , then click the folder icon beside ‘Save project file to’ 2 and choose where you want to save this. Next, tick Compression 3 . There are different compression Levels from 1 (fastest but least effective) to 9 (slowest but best compression quality), so change the Level dropdown menu to around 6. The ‘i’ icons 4 give you more information about those settings. If you want to passwordprotect your compressed file, tick Encoding and Password 5 and type a password.

STEP 4

You now need to add the files and folders 1 you want to compress. Click the relevant button and select the item, then repeat the process to add other items. These appear in a list below 2 . You can search 3 for specific items you’ve added (useful if your list is long). The five buttons below 4 let you edit your list, select all files, deselect them, remove any selected item and clear the list.

STEP 5

You now need to choose which PC location you want to save your compressed file to. Click the folder icon 1 , select the location that you want, then click Save. The tickboxes at the bottom let you choose to see the folder location after it’s compressed 2 and close the program after the process is done 3 . Finally, click the ‘Create project’ button 4 .

STEP 6

There are two ways to compress your file. You can either double-click the project file 1 or select its name within Autozipper 2 , then click Run 3 . You’ll see your file-compression progress as a percentage, after which the location of your compressed file will automatically open (if you ticked ‘Show folder on completion’ in Step 5). Open this compressed file. If you set a password (in Step 3), you’ll be prompted to type this to open the file.

STEP 7

To edit a project file, right-click it, then click ‘Edit with Autozipper’. When the main project window opens, make any changes that you want 1 . You can then save these changes to the project file 2 or compress your files 3 . ●