Compression

Work

AutoWinRarZip Extracts Archives Automatically After Downloading

12:00AM September 13, 2011 | Thorin Klosowski

Windows: AutoWinRarZip is a utility designed for people who download a lot of archives and want them extracted automatically. More »

Work

JPEGmini Shrinks Photos’ File Sizes Online, Without Reducing Quality

2:00AM September 7, 2011 | Melanie Pinola

Free web app JPEGmini can quickly take your JPEG images and reduce their file sizes by up to 80 per cent — all within your browser and while preserving their image quality. More »

Design

RIOT Compresses Images Without Sacrificing Quality

9:30PM July 22, 2011 | Alan Henry

Windows: RIOT, or Radical Image Optimization Tool, compresses your images as much as possible without turning them into a horribly pixelated mess. The app gives you a side-by-side view of the original and the compressed version so you can see how the final image will appear. More »

Work

Zip2Fix Extracts Files From Damaged Zip Archives

9:00PM July 14, 2011 | Alan Henry

Windows: Spending a half-hour slowly downloading a huge Zip archive only to discover it’s corrupt is a pain. Avoid it with Zip2Fix, a utility that won’t fix corrupt archives, but will extract any and all undamaged files from it. More »

FixBrought to you by

Use An Encrypted Zip File To Secure Files In Dropbox

4:00AM June 22, 2011 | Melanie Pinola

You can use TrueCrypt or special apps to encrypt your sensitive data stored on Dropbox, but for greater accessibility and reduced bandwidth consumption, another alternative is to use a password-protected, encrypted zip file in Dropbox. More »

Work

Delete Zip Files In OS X As Soon As You Unzip Them

8:30AM May 19, 2011 | Whitson Gordon

Mac OS X’s Archive Utility is a handy built-in tool, but it has some annoying quirks—like the fact that it automatically unzips files but leaves the original archive in place. Here’s how to tweak its preferences more to your liking. More »

Work

7-Zip Updates, Now Unpacks .EXE And Flash Files

1:00AM November 30, 2010 | Kevin Purdy

Windows only: 7-Zip, one of those essential little Windows utilities that always makes our Lifehacker Pack, has updated to version 9.2. The tool still does its basic job well, but now supports some EXE, FLV, and SWF files as well. More »

Work

How To Open Compressed Files On Your iOS Device

7:00AM October 2, 2010 | Adam Dachis

iOS does pretty well with handling various file types, but when it comes to compressed files, you run into problems. Fortunately, with the aid of a file browsing app you’ll be able to view compressed files easily. More »

Work

How Do I Normalise The Audio In My Music And Video Collection?

7:15AM August 27, 2010 | Adam Dachis

Dear Lifehacker,

I have a large music and video collection but the audio levels are all over the place. How can I normalise them so I don’t have to constantly adjust the volume myself? More »

Work

Squeeze Saves Hard Drive Space On Your Mac, Is Free Today

7:30AM March 3, 2010 | Whitson Gordon

Mac only: If you’re quickly running out of space on your hard drive (or backup drive), free-for-today preference pane Squeeze lowers the footprint of large files by compressing any folder — without requiring anything fancy to read it again. More »