This is a hub about how to deal with archived files, e.g. .rar and .zip being the most common.

First off, what is an archive file? An archive is just a bunch of files that have been compressed into one file, usually making the one file smaller than the added filesizes of the combined files together. This is great if you have a set of pictures that you need to send to somebody, but you don't want to upload them all to eMail one by one. There are many other uses for file archival.

In order to utilize these files you need to have an archiver program. Windows users generally choose WinRAR or WinZIP, while Mac users are offered BOMArchiveHelper and Stuffit Expander. Later versions of these operating systems have built-in support for viewing these archives, but you still need a program to create an archive yourself.

In this brief tutorial, we're going to go over how to open and create an archived file, using my favorite archival program, WinRAR.

There are many different programs available to users of all platforms. Most windows users choose WinRAR for it's small filesize and resource footpring, fully-functional evaluation version, and user friendliness. (a)

Plus, it integrates with the Operating System Shell, which makes things easier for you when you're trying to create archives.

Once it finishes downloading, you can install it where you normally put program files. (C:/Program Files is default) The installation is pretty straight forward; I'll spare you the walkthrough.

Mac users, I haven't forgotten about you =) StuffIt Expander is the standard for .rar files. The Macintosh Guru, over at YouTube, has another idea for those of you that want a more functional program. (Links)

From here it's simple. Just drag and drop the files you want from the archive into a folder on your hard drive. (b)

Extraction Tip: Hold CTRL to select multiple files for extraction. Also, hold SHIFT and click two non-consecutive files to select all files in between them.

As an alternative to the drag-and-drop method, you can click the Extract To button at the top of the window to browse your hard drive for an appropriate directory to extract to. (c)

Ok, so you remember when I mentioned that Operating System Shell Integration part earlier? I know, that sounds intimidating, right? Well, all that means (as far as we're concerned) is that when you right click a file on your computer, you'll now see some options for WinRAR as well. Neat, huh? Let's check it out (d)

Extraction is pretty simple. Archive creation can be a little trickier. If you want to select your own file name, use the "Add To Archive..." option. If you're fine with WinRAR's automatically generated suggestion. If you select a folder for archival, it will automatically suggest the name of the folder as the archive name. I usually do that, but if you want to creat your own make sure you look at the picture here. (e)

You don't need to look at anything there except the filename and the OK button. And if you have friends that prefer .zip files, you might change it over to a ZIP file. There's really no difference in quality, and most programs open both.

After you make changes, if you need to, click OK and watch WinRAR compress your files! (f)

The archive will be created inside whatever directory the files you selected are located. For example, if you selected a folder located at C:/Program Files/WinRAR the rar for it would be inside C:/Program Files upon creation.

WinRAR preserves directory structure within your archives, so if you have folders within folders that you have compressed, they will all stay the same within your archive.

You can add files to your archive by dropping them into the window, or remove them with the delete button.

Can you extract the files from the test archive?

Next, try to make an archive out of files already on your computer =)