If you’re like most people, you probably have a lot of zip files in your computer. But if you’re like me, you also have a lot of them that Windows is unable to open. The problem is that zip files are large and complex, and Windows can’t seem to figure out how to read them. So it’s just sitting there, waiting to be filled with all the data you’ve collected over the years. But there’s a way to fix this! All you need is a ZIP file opener program, and we’ll show you how to open one that’s specifically designed for zip files. First, create a new folder on your computer for the ZIP file opener program we’re going to use. We’ll call it “zips.” Then create a new directory inside of that folder and put the ZIP file opener program we’re going to use into it. We’ll call it “zips-opener.” Now let’s get started! First, open up your favorite ZIP file editor or tool and create a new zip file. Then insert the contents of the new zip file into the “zips-opener” directory we created earlier. Now everything should be working as expected!
Most of the time unzipping a zip file in Windows is straightforward, but once in a while a zip file comes along and is nothing but trouble. With that in mind, today’s SuperUser Q&A post comes to the rescue to help a reader get a stubborn zip file opened.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Hanusek (Flickr).
The Question
SuperUser reader meed96 wants to know how to open a very huge zip file that his Windows system is unable to deal with:
What is the best way for meed96 to get that huge zip file open?
Specifically, the files included three videos for a total of around 20 GB. However, when I proceeded to unzip them, I got the following error message:
I use a 250 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD. I failed to pick up a 2.15 Exabyte hard-drive while picking out my new computer though. How do I fix this?
The Answer
SuperUser contributor Steven has the answer for us:
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
Not all . zip features are supported by the Windows Compressed Folders capability. For example, AES Encryption, split or spanned archives, and Unicode entry encoding are not known to be readable or writable by the Compressed Folders feature in Windows versions earlier than Windows 8.
Quote Source: Zip (File Format) – Implementation [Wikipedia]
