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Tech Tips / Windows NT / Disk and File Management

Compressing files and folders

In this age of huge hard drives, you might forget that there are still times when disk compression can be helpful. For example, files or folders used sporadically can be compressed to save disk space, as can files in users' home directories. Doing so will save space on your file server and help your department avoid the unnecessary expense of yet another hard drive.

Compression is simply a file or folder attribute. To apply it, just access the General tab of the Properties sheet for the file or folder you want to compress and enable the Compressed checkbox. NT uses a compression algorithm similar to that of the old DOS DoubleSpace utility, but the main difference is that DoubleSpace compressed the entire partition, resulting in performance degradation. Individual file or folder compression does not have the same impact.

Remember, too, that for ease of viewing, you can display your compressed files or folders in a different color. Go into Windows NT Explorer and click View | Options. On the View tab, enable the Display Compressed Files And Folders With Alternate Color checkbox.