Internet Basics: Compression
| Category: Internet Tips | Date: 2002-11-07 |
There are millions of cool files all over the internet. Without trying very hard you will find desktop themes, wallpapers, freeware and shareware programs, scripts, documents and just about anything else you can image. In fact, quite often the problem people face (especially those with fast connections such as DSL or cable) is they download so much that they can no longer keep a handle on what they've got.
Very likely the first time you downloaded something (just about anything) you ran into a problem. You discovered that what you downloaded was compressed - whatever that means.
What is compression? Well, downloading anything off the internet requires time. The larger the object the more time it takes. Thus, downloading a 1 megabyte file (one million bytes) might take twenty minutes. If you can somehow reduce the size of that file to, say, half it's size, you wind up cutting down the download time by fifty percent.
In the days of very slow connections (I remember when, not so long ago, 9600 baud was considered very fast), compression was critical. In those days, a one megabyte file might require more than an hour to download. In fact, I remember spending many long hours on American Online, happily downloading fonts and other cool things all night long.
So what do you do when you receive or download a file that is compressed? Well, it depends upon how it was compressed.
Self Extracting - Some files are put together using what is called "self extracting compression". What this means is the file is actually a program. When you run the program it starts the decompression automatically and places the file(s) either in a pre-determined location or wherever you want.
Self Extracting files are easier for end users as they require no special handling. However, since they consist of programs they must be created for a specific platform (operating system). Thus, a self extracting image for a Macintosh will not run on a PC and vice versa.
On the Maintosh, Stuffit self-extracting files have a file type of ".SEA". On the PC, the files generally have a file type of ".EXE", indicating an executable image.
Zip Files - Perhaps the most popular compression method on the internet is called Zip, and the most popular compression/decompression program is Winzip. To decompress a zip file, you will need to install one of the many zip-type programs. Winzip is popular (as mentioned earlier) and relatively inexpensive. There are other, freeware versions available as well.
TAR Files - Unix has it's own compression program and it is referred to as TAR. To decompress these files you will need to purchase something or obtains a freeware decompression program. Personally, I like Conversion Plus because it handles just about every compression format.
Stuffit Files - A popular compression format on the Macintosh computer is called Stuffit. You can recognize these by the file type of ".SIT". The Stuffit expander is used to decompress them, and you can get a copy for the Macintosh or the PC. Conversion Plus also handles this file type.
WinRAR Files - One of the absolute best compression systems is called WinRAR. This type of compression is very good (it makes for very small files) and is becoming more popular. To decompress, you need to obtain a copy of WinRAR. If you see files with a file type of something like ".R01", then you most likely have a piece of a WinRAR archive. In order to decompress these, you need to get all of the files in the archive. The first file in the archive is usually named ".RAR".
There are a number of other compression types, although they are becoming more and more rare as time progresses. Personally, I use WinZip for zip files, WinRAR for RAR files and Conversion Plus for everything else.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@GetResponse.com
Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com
List of articles available for reprint: article-list@internet-tips.net
articles@internet-tips.net
http://www.internet-tips.net
Very likely the first time you downloaded something (just about anything) you ran into a problem. You discovered that what you downloaded was compressed - whatever that means.
What is compression? Well, downloading anything off the internet requires time. The larger the object the more time it takes. Thus, downloading a 1 megabyte file (one million bytes) might take twenty minutes. If you can somehow reduce the size of that file to, say, half it's size, you wind up cutting down the download time by fifty percent.
In the days of very slow connections (I remember when, not so long ago, 9600 baud was considered very fast), compression was critical. In those days, a one megabyte file might require more than an hour to download. In fact, I remember spending many long hours on American Online, happily downloading fonts and other cool things all night long.
So what do you do when you receive or download a file that is compressed? Well, it depends upon how it was compressed.
Self Extracting - Some files are put together using what is called "self extracting compression". What this means is the file is actually a program. When you run the program it starts the decompression automatically and places the file(s) either in a pre-determined location or wherever you want.
Self Extracting files are easier for end users as they require no special handling. However, since they consist of programs they must be created for a specific platform (operating system). Thus, a self extracting image for a Macintosh will not run on a PC and vice versa.
On the Maintosh, Stuffit self-extracting files have a file type of ".SEA". On the PC, the files generally have a file type of ".EXE", indicating an executable image.
Zip Files - Perhaps the most popular compression method on the internet is called Zip, and the most popular compression/decompression program is Winzip. To decompress a zip file, you will need to install one of the many zip-type programs. Winzip is popular (as mentioned earlier) and relatively inexpensive. There are other, freeware versions available as well.
TAR Files - Unix has it's own compression program and it is referred to as TAR. To decompress these files you will need to purchase something or obtains a freeware decompression program. Personally, I like Conversion Plus because it handles just about every compression format.
Stuffit Files - A popular compression format on the Macintosh computer is called Stuffit. You can recognize these by the file type of ".SIT". The Stuffit expander is used to decompress them, and you can get a copy for the Macintosh or the PC. Conversion Plus also handles this file type.
WinRAR Files - One of the absolute best compression systems is called WinRAR. This type of compression is very good (it makes for very small files) and is becoming more popular. To decompress, you need to obtain a copy of WinRAR. If you see files with a file type of something like ".R01", then you most likely have a piece of a WinRAR archive. In order to decompress these, you need to get all of the files in the archive. The first file in the archive is usually named ".RAR".
There are a number of other compression types, although they are becoming more and more rare as time progresses. Personally, I use WinZip for zip files, WinRAR for RAR files and Conversion Plus for everything else.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@GetResponse.com
Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com
List of articles available for reprint: article-list@internet-tips.net
articles@internet-tips.net
http://www.internet-tips.net
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