* Winzip

[victor]

As users of FH know back ups always end up in Winzip
I have had Winzip since it first started all those years ago. Nowadays it is an annual charge and appears to be organised by 2 different companies. I discovered that when I realised I had paid 2 fees a few months apart.
I have since ceased using Winzip as the annual fees deterred me from doing so. These annual fees are ever increasing
Users of Windows 10 have a free 7-Zip included.
As anyone tried doing a back up on this? or can FH work with it?
That said I haven't used 7-zip much so have no idea how effective it is

[PeterR]

I find that 7-Zip works very well.

[steveflanuk]

From my own personal experience I much prefer 7-zip to Winzip (although the last time I used Winzip was many years ago! )

[tatewise]

In general terms, any ZIP folder (or Compressed (zipped) Folder as Windows calls them) uses the same format.

The built-in Windows File Explorer commands are right-click Send to > Compressed (zipped) Folder and Extract All.

Utilities such as 7-Zip and WinZip simply add some bells & whistles, and support other compressed folder formats too.

FH uses the Windows standard ZIP folder format via its Backup/Restore commands.
It does NOT use 7-Zip or WinZip at all.

See glossary:backup_and_recovery|> Backup and Recovery.

Strictly speaking, none of the above is to do with backups. It is purely to do with file compression, and the convenience of compressing a set of files into one compressed folder. Whereas, backup is to do with archival to external media, whether as plain files, or compressed folders, or whatever.

[victor]

Mike

I am a bit surprised at your comment.
Every time I back up FH it goes straight to Winzip (this has always been the case since the first FH) and I have never been able to open it because I don't subscribe to it

I will have a look at Knowledge base

[tatewise]

What do you mean by "Every time I back up FH it goes straight to Winzip"?

Are you saying something happens within FH as you save the Backup file? If so, what exactly happens?

Do you mean that when you use File Explorer and double-click/open any FH backup ZIP folder it defaults to WinZip, in the same way that if you double-click/open any DOCX file it defaults to MS Word?

That is simply because all ZIP files were associated with WinZip when you installed it.
If you uninstall WinZip and adjust the Windows default file type associations you can get other affects.
e.g. the ZIP folder simply expands to show its contents, or it is associated with 7-Zip and opens in that program.

Does that make sense or is it gobbledegook?
File type associations are a fundamental necessity of Windows without which it does not know what program to use to open each type of file.

[NickWalker]

Victor, in File Explorer if you right-click on a zip file and then select Open With... then you can select File Explorer and tick the box to always use this to open zip files. Then you should find that zip folders open in File Explorer rather than WinZip.

[LornaCraig]

I have never been able to open it because I don't subscribe to it

Victor, do you mean you have never been able to restore an FH backup because you thought you needed WinZip to open the backup? That's not how you do it. To restore from a backup you use File>Backup/Restore>Restore Backup commands within FH

[victor]

Thanks Lorna
I will give that a go. What I have been doing is prompting the item from my file folder where it is saved.

When I save FH it always ends with the Winzip ikon hence my thinking it is winzip

Victor

[tatewise]

Victor, since you do not subscribe to WinZip, then uninstall it and its icon association with ZIP files will be removed.

If this is your only use of ZIP files, then you do not need 7-Zip either.

Check through all the other replies to your question.

[victor]

Thanks Mike

I have thought about doing that but then wondered if I did so will I lose all the winzip files I have had over the years (not just FH)
That is why I hesitate about uninstalling it even though I am unable to open any because I have ceased subscribing to winzip.

Victor

[tatewise]

Uninstalling a program, whether it is WinZip or FH or Firefox, or a Word-Processor or anything else, will just remove that program from your PC, but will not usually touch your data files, unless there is an option to do so (which is rare).

However, such data files may become un-usable unless there is another program or built-in Windows feature for them.
In this case File Explorer will probably handle such ZIP files, or the free 7-Zip will.
However, the FH Backup ZIP files should only ever be handled by FH via its Backup/Restore commands.

BTW: If the ZIP files did become un-usable, because they used some proprietary WinZip format, then the only option would be to subscribe or use a free trial of WinZip, uncompress the ZIP files and re-compress using a free alternative, then uninstall WinZip. This scenario applies to all subscription/purchased programs including FH. Imagine getting the FH Free 30-day trial, if after 30 days you don't buy FH, then the Project files will all still exist but become un-usable.

[victor]

Thanks for this information Mike
Sorry for taking so long to response have been busy
Now I will have to clear a back log of notifications

Victor