Downloading Files and Using Pkunzip

http://www.gateway2000.com/articles/howto/pkunzip/pkunzip.htm (Amiga Plus Extra No. 5/97, 05/1997)

Downloading Files
and Using Pkunzip^®
by Cheryl Sarges

As most of you know, the Internet is filled with wonderful applications and toys to download and try at your leisure. But how do you go about doing it? This article explores the proper way to configure your browser to handle downloading .zip files and what to do with them once you have them. The author realizes that other compression utilities are available, and there may be more than one way to configure them; however, this article focuses on one quick and easy way to use Pkunzip.

Note: Please realize that Pkunzip is a shareware product of Pkware ^®. It is not free. If you plan to continue using this product, please register it with Pkware at www.pkware.com.

First, you need to physically have Pkunzip. Luckily, it's an executable file (.exe), so we don't have a Catch-22 on our hands. Download the file -- it's called pkz204g.exe -- into your temp directory. If you need to configure your browser to do this, continue reading; otherwise, skip down to Using Pkunzip.exe.

Configuring your Browser for .exe files

The majority of people browsing the Web are using Netscape,^TM so that's the browser I'll focus on for now. When you click on the filename you wish to save, a box may pop up that says "Unknown File Type". Don't panic. Just click on the button labeled "Save File". This brings you to an Explorer/File Manager-type screen where you can just move to your temp directory. Before you click on "Save", make sure the filename still has the extension .exe on it. If it doesn't, append it to the filename. Now click on the "Save" button and watch it go!

Now, to make sure this traumatic experience doesn't repeat itself, you need to add this file type to your browser's helper applications. To do this, click "Options" on the menu bar and choose "General Preferences". Now, click the "Helpers" tab. Here is where your browser stores preferences for different file types. Use the scroll bar to find the .exe file type in the "Extensions" list. (there may be more than one, so check the entire list) Click once on the line containing the .exe file extension to highlight it. Now, go towards the bottom of the Preferences box and find an "Action" section with radio buttons for the available choices. For .exe files, the correct choice is "Save to Disk". Make sure you choose this radio button. That's it. Just click OK. Now, the next time you download an .exe file the procedure will be smooth and painless. Hopefully, your Pkware utilities are finished downloading now, so let's continue.

Using Pkunzip.exe

Once the download is finished, use your File Manager/Explorer to get into the Temp directory. Double click on the pkz204g.exe file. It's a self-extracting file, so you'll see the DOS prompt come up while it extracts, and then you'll have a bunch of files in your temp directory where before there was only one. (With Windows 3.x, you may have to hit the F5 key to refresh your screen. In Windows 95, click the "View" on the Menu bar, then click "Refresh".) What I recommend you do now is make a directory called "Pktools" or something similar, and copy all the files to this directory, where you can explore them at your leisure. For now, we'll concentrate on the file called pkunzip.exe.

Go back to your temp directory and delete all the files except pkunzip.exe. (Remember, you've got copies of these files in another directory.) Now, we need a .zip file. If you'd like, you can practice with this one, a cow screensaver file located in our Pasture section. It's called cows.zip. Click on this file. Once again, you may or may not get a box that says "Unknown File Type". If you do, click on the "Save File" button and once again, choose to save it to your temp directory. Now we'll configure your browser to handle files with .zip extensions, so this nuisance won't happen again. If you didn't get the "Unknown File Type" box, skip to the Unzipping a .zip file section.

Configuring your Browser for .zip Files

OK, the procedure for configuring .zip files is nearly identical to saving .exe files. Click on "Options" on the browser menu and choose "General Preferences". Choose the "Helper" tab. Scroll down the dialog box until you see ".zip" in the "Extensions" column. Click on the line containing the .zip extension to highlight it. (there may be more than one, so check the entire list) Then, go down the box to the "Action" section and click on the radio button marked "Save to Disk". Now click OK and you're done! The next time you come across a .zip file you'd like to download, you won't get the "Unknown File Type" box. You can just save directly to disk.

Unzipping a .zip file

OK, now to the fun part. You should have two files in your temp directory: "pkunzip.exe" and "cows.zip". Delete anything else that may be lingering. Now, go to the DOS prompt. Don't exit out of Windows, just click on the MS-DOS icon. Now, change directory out of the Windows directory into your temp directory where the files are located. For example, if you're at the "C:\WINDOWS" prompt type:

"cd..\temp" then hit <ENTER>
Note: this will only work if your temp directory resides
in the root; otherwise, type in the appropriate pathname. Now, all you need to do is type in "pkunzip cows.zip" and hit <ENTER>. Yep, that's it! Your files will uncompress into the temp directory. When they're done, just type "exit" and hit <ENTER> and you'll be back in Windows. Now you can read the readme file and set up your application as you normally would. In the case of the cow screensaver, all you need to do is put the .scr file into your Windows directory and then configure the screensaver in your Control Panel. And remember, it's shareware; if you like it, register it!

Pkunzip.exe Tweaks
(A word of warning: The following tweaks will allow you to double click on any .zip file to decompress it. Make sure you're in an empty temporary directory before unzipping any files! If you unzip files in a directory that already contains other files, you'll never know what was generated from the .zip file as opposed to what was there to begin with.)

Associating Pkunzip.exe in Windows 95

Some of you may have noticed that .zip files ordinarily don't have a pretty icon associated with them. The icon usually looks like a blank sheet of paper with a Windows logo in it. A neat thing you can do is to associate .zip files with Pkunzip.exe. This allows you to just double click on the .zip file to unzip it instead of going to the MS-DOS prompt. What you need to do is double click on a .zip file. Now you'll get an "Open With" dialog box. Scroll down the box and look for pkunzip.exe. Highlight it, make sure the "Always use this program to open this file" box is checked, and click OK. If it's not there, click on the "Other" button. Now, find your Pkutil directory, open it, and double click on pkunzip.exe. You should pop back to the "Open With" box. Make sure the "Always use this program to open this file" box is checked and click OK. That's it.

Associating Pkunzip.exe in Windows 3.x

If you're using Windows 3.x, go to your File Manager and single click a .zip file to highlight it. Now, choose "File" in the upper left, then "Associate" in the drop down menu. This will open the Associate box. Click "Browse". Go to your Pkutil directory and double click the pkunzip.exe file. Once you're back in the Associate box, click OK. That wasn't so hard now, was it?

Putting Pkunzip.exe in Your Path Statement

By adding pkunzip.exe to your path statement, you can avoid the hassle of going to the MS-DOS prompt every time you need to unzip a file. What you need to do is go to your Explorer or File Manager and pull up the "autoexec.bat" file in Notepad or a similar text editor. (Note: If you're using Windows 95, don't be alarmed if this file is blank.) The autoexec.bat file should be in your root (C:\>) directory. Find the line that starts out "set path=" Make sure there is a semicolon at the end of this path line. Then, after the semicolon, type:

C:\pkutil;
The entire line will now look something like this:
set path=C:\;C:\WINDOWS;C:\pkutil; Be sure to save the changes before exiting out of your text editor. OK, you've done it. Be sure to reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

There are many other neat things you can do with Pkware utilities, so be sure to read the readme.txt file that came with your pk204g.exe file to learn more. If you're determined to become an expert, or if you just like the products, visit Pkware's home page at www.pkware.com to register your software and receive complete documentation and manuals.

Downloading Files and Using Pkunzip®