winzip and x2

[windinthew]

have now set x2 as default explorer so clicking on a folder opens x2. however integration with winzip which I like is a problem .... if I click on a zip file like that for the new 1003 winzip opens and then opens an explorer window with the unzipped files ... except of course it is windows explorer,,,,, and if there is a folder in there and I click on it I am back in x2. I cannot see anything in winzip options that helps. can anyone advise.. I tried to search but there were too many results

[nikos]

[Robert2]

have now set x2 as default explorer so clicking on a folder opens x2. however integration with winzip which I like is a problem .... if I click on a zip file like that for the new 1003 winzip opens and then opens an explorer window with the unzipped files ... except of course it is windows explorer,,,,, and if there is a folder in there and I click on it I am back in x2. I cannot see anything in winzip options that helps. can anyone advise.. I tried to search but there were too many results

Greetings–
Here is an email exchange that I had with the WinZip Technical Support about a year ago:

"I recently upgraded to Windows XP SP1 Home Edition.
Whenever I double-click on a Zip file in Explorer, that Zip file opens in a Windows XP Explorer window, using the Windows XP built-in Zip utility.
WinZip is associated with Zip files on my system but the Zip files are still opened by Windows XP when I double-click on them.
I would like WinZip itself to open these Zip files when I double-click on them.
Could you please tell me how to do just that?"
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"The fact that you can still see Compressed Folders in Windows Explorer and in Searches is an XP issue that will hopefully be fixed in a future release of XP.

Currently XP always understands Zip files to be ShellFolders, regardless of what application is associated with them. This behavior appears to be governed by a registry key associated with the GUID for compressed folders. But we have not had the chance to test the repercussions of removing the key.

By the way, this same issue causes Zip file not to be included in the list of recently used documents.

We also noticed that you can control whether compressed folders display in Windows Explorer by doing the following:

If you open Windows Explorer and click on the + symbol next to the folder mentioned above, the left side expands and you see no compressed (zipped) folders on the left side.

Close Windows Explorer.

Re-open Windows Explorer and click on either the *icon* or the*folder name that is hyperlinked* (of that same folder), the left side expands and you see compressed (zipped) folders on the left side.

To reset how compressed (zipped) folders display in Windows Explorer you need to close and re-open Windows Explorer.

So if you don't want to see compressed folders on the left side of Windows Explorer, always expand by clicking on the + symbol.

The drastic solution is to unregister compressed folders. You would think that if compressed folders were not installed, it would always gray out the button. But that is not the case. Unregistering compressed folders has the side effect of removing the content type value from the .ZIP key and this in turn causes IE's special handling to be avoided. This can be accomplished by issuing the command regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

--Chuck Campbell, WinZip Technical Support"
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I did unregister Zip files with Windows using the command regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll.
But to be honest, it worked only partially.
When I double-click on a ZIP file in xplorer², it opens in xplorer² but as a Windows compressed Zip folder.
If I want a ZIP file to open in WinZip itself, I have to use the right-click context menu and click “Open with WinZip”.
By the way, I have WinZip version 9.0.
Hope this is of some help.

[windinthew]

Hi Robert I did not make clear that my initial query was about what happens when downloading a zip file.. ie winzip opens and when file is unzipped, opens a WINDOWS EXPLORER WINDOW. That is reasonably convenient if you are not using x2, though even then it would be nice to have an option not to open a window. It is a nuisance if using Xp. I unregistered the winzip DLL to see what happens and basically winzip no longer opens upon download but navigating to the zip file, like you I can unzip normally with winzip's context menu. Dunno which option I prefer but obviously this is unfortunate for x2 users as for many these are everyday actions. I noticed a few explorer replacements seemed to have their own compression arhive tools but I never looked into what they did.

[windinthew]

hi I have now reregistered the winzip dll and switched to winzip classic which if I set the extract path in options is almost as convenient as the winzip wizard for double clicking on a zip.link from the web ... the advantage is that with classic you can choose not to open an explorer (ie Windows explorer) window showing the unzip location. As regards any .zip not yet unzipped I am the same as robert , I can right click to open with winzip but double click only opens in the same x2 panel to show the contents. But wait the problem is: x2 is showing these as a compressed folder (look at the icon) ... Windoze explorer and several other explorer replacements show the correct icon association I have set with Winzip for .zip and open Winzip on double click. Isn't there at the least a reg fix somehow to alter the action for double click on a windoze compressed folder (which x2 is reading Winzip associated Zipfolders as)?

[nikos]

the whole thing is a mystery
all i can say is that i'll add it in the list of things to investigate/sort out in the future

[fgagnon]

I am also a long time user of WinZip.
I have found that, except for normal browsing, the r-click context menu is more useful. ... & for normal browsing, opening WinZip as an intermediate step just gets in the way, imo.
So it doesn't bother me that x2 browses to zipfile contents as if it were a folder (I actually prefer it).
And the option to open with WinZip is at the top of the r-click context menu list for the few cases when I do want to use it.
So my personal preference would be to leave x2 behaviour "as-is" -- unless there is a clamour for making x2 consistent with winExplorer, in which case I would prefer to be able to opt-out.

[windinthew]

I kind of agree winzip wanting to unzip the instant a file is downloaded can get in the way... but you do not have to use winzip or you can unregister the dll as described and still have right click winzip functionality. But I don't see what you personally actually gain by what I see as X2 misdescribing a winzip associated .zip file as a compressed folder. If you are associating .zip with compressed folders then you carry on as you are ... but for those who like to associate .zip with winzip they could double click .zips directly to open with winzip if such files were so associated.

[JRz]

I agree with Fred on this. I like it that X² browses zip files as if it were folders. That's very convenient and efficient.

whenever I want to do a specific task using Winzip, I use the right-click context menu, as Fred suggests.

[fgagnon]

@ X2 misdescribing a winzip associated .zip file as a compressed folder

Because a zip files are commonly thought of as compressed folders nowadays, (especially with winMe & XP), I don't see a "misdescription" here.
I believe the current implementation to be functionally more efficient than the alternative -- even if it is academically inconsistent in this usage. So, if you or anybody else sees misleading language in the documentation, please point it out so it can be clarified/corrected in future editions.