CompuServe Thread

Look at the file extension of the archive name: <filename>.LHA use LHA138.RUN (self extracting) <filename>.LZH " " " <filename>.ZOO use a ZOO archiver/dearchiver <filename>.ARC use an ARC archiver/dearchiver <filename>.ZIP use UNZIP.LHA <filename>.DMS use DiskMasher (DMS) All of our archivers/dearchivers can be found in Library 16 here in AmigaUser. Shout if you need help with a specific file or archiver.

Jerry, Just about any file that you download – from anywhere – will not come to you in a form that will just run. In order to keep all the files together, and to compress the data and make a smaller download, the files are archived, or compressed. Each download will probably include quite a few individual files, but they can all be compressed into the same archive so that you get only one download, but get all files needed for that program. There are many different ways to compress or archive the files. Each has a different extension on the filename, so you will know what program to use to unpack the file after you get it. The most common are: ARC – very old and not used much any more. Library 16, ARC.EXE ZOO – old, but still used. Library 16, ZOO.EXE LHA – LHARC, the most popular right now Library 16, LHA138.RUN LZH – another form of LHARC, and also uses Library 16, LHA138.RUN ZIP – used mostly on MSDOS, but available Library 16, ZIP.LHA (Use LHA to unpack this one.) DMS – a scheme to compress an entire disk Library 16, but I forget the exact name of this one. My apologies. ARC.EXE and ZOO.EXE have been specially treated so that they are usable just as downloaded – they don't have to be unpacked. Just rename them to ARC and ZOO and put them in your C: or Tools: directory. LHA138.RUN is a self-dissolving archive. Put it in the directory where you want it to be, CD to that directory, and type LHA138.RUN. It will unpack itself into that directory, giving you a doc file and LHA. Put LHA into your C: or Tools: directory, and save the doc file and read it. Suppose that you have the file you mentioned in ram: and suppose that it is named NEWFILE.ZOO. IF you have ZOO in either c: or tools:, then you can extract the file this way: makedir ram:newfile cd ram:newfile zoo x ram:newfile.zoo After it is unpacked, copy it to the place where you want it. When you are sure it is working from there, you can delete the archived version. Please let us know if you need more help. This is awfully easy after you have done a few – but pretty confusing when you are just getting started. —Betty