ZIP files are commonly found as both Gmail attachments and Google Drive, as well as other cloud-based storage systems such as Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive. Today, the ZIP file format is widely supported, with billions of such files in circulation. The receiver of a a ZIP file would then use a decompression program to extract, or 'unzip,' the file contents onto a user's computer. It also allowed for multiple files and folders to be grouped together ('zipped') and transferred as a single ZIP file. Using ZIP compression often saved minutes or even hours off of file transfers. At that time, file transfer speeds were much slower than today.

The ZIP file format dates to the late 1980s when it received heavy use in pre-internet-era Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes). The ZIP file format is very popular for efficiently storing and transferring groups of files in a variety of business and personal applications. Remember this for the next step.ZIP files group together one or more files into a single file, called an archive, while at the same time compressing them and making them smaller. If it says 64 next to it, you are running 64-bit version of Windows XP. If there is nothing else next to it, you are running a 32-bit version of Windows XP. To the right of the Windows logo, under the System subheading, you should see Microsoft Windows XP.

For Windows XP, click “Start,” right-click “My Computer,” and then select “Properties.” A new window will pop up with the General tab already selected.

Under the subheading “System,” and to the right of System type, it should say 32- or 64-bit.

For Windows 7, click the Start orb, right-click “Computer,” and then select “Properties.” A new window should open.

Click “This PC” on the left-hand side of the window, and then hit “Properties.” A new window should open, under the subheading “System” and to the right of “System type,” it should say 32- or 64-bit.

For Windows 8, open a file explorer window.

In order to see this information, do these: Before continuing, you will need to know what version of Windows you are running.

Winzip open rar