What is File Compression and how to use compress?

Use compression when you need more space on your hard-disk drive. Compressing files, folders, and programs decrease their size and reduces the amount of space they use on drives or removable storage device. You can also compress disk drives.

Windows supports two types of compression : NTFS file compression and compressed (zipped) folders. You can use Microsoft Windows Explorer to configure both types.

Uses of Compression : you will get the most compression from txt files, bitmap files, spreadsheets, and presentation files. You will have less compression with graphic and video files that are already compressed Avoid compressing system folders and files because this affects the server and operating system performance.

NTFS file compression : volume, folders and files on an NTFS volume are either compressed or uncompressed. Compression is configured as an attribute of a file or folder. New files created in a compressed folder are compressed by default. A file an be compressed but have an uncompressed file within it. The compression state of a folder does not necessarily reflect  the compression state of files within that folder.



Space allocation : when files are copied, NTFS calculates disk space based on the size of the uncompressed file. This is important because files are uncompressed during the copy process and the system must be sure there is enough space for the uncompressed file. If you copy a compressed file to an NTFS partition that does not have enough space for the uncompressed file, an error message notifies you that there is not enough disk space for the file.

Comparison of compression methods : The two compression methods are compared in the following table

Attribute	NTFS file compression	Compressed (zipped) Folders
File system	NTFS	NTFS or FAT, FAT32
Compressible objects	Files, folders and drives	Files and Folders
User interaction	Transparent, when saving a file to a folder that is compressed	Manual
Performance	Decrease if system files are compressed	No decrease
Password Protection	No	Yes
Encrypt	No	Yes
Change display color	Yes	No

How to use Compression ?

To compress a file, folder or drive right click on it and go to properties. From the general tab check the "Compress this disk drive to save disk space" click apply and OK. See below picture.

What is File Compression and how to use compress?