Compressed zip file *censored*

[techidiot32]

Hello everyone thanks for reading...  I created a compressed zipped folder so I could password protect some files (under 1 gig... OS is XP home)... I had no idea long this would take... Anyway, I input the password and leave for a while... When I come back I have an error message stating I have damaged or corrupt file... A small percentage of the files are password protected, most are not.  When I try to set up a password for them I get a message that the folder already has a password.  When I try to remove the password I get an error message... When I try to extract everything in it I get an error message.  When I try to move everything out of the compressed folder I can do it for some but not all... When I try to delete what is in the compressed folder I get an error message (The compressed zipped folder is invalid or corrupt) and I can't!

What is the best way for me to fix and or start over?...

Thanks for any suggestions...

[ninjatex]

What version of Windows do you run? What program are you using/how do you compress the files? Please be explicit when explaining your situation as it helps us diagnose and find solutions to your problem.

If you just want to prevent somebody from accessing your files, you're probably better off encrypting them. ZIP encryption is notoriously easy to crack/break and makes the files hard to use and index. I would suggest TrueCrypt (truecrypt.org) for the job.

[techidiot32]

Thanks for responding ninjatex, I did mention the OS is XP home. 
As for program, I created the folder with whatever is on my computer... I went to new folder and one of the options was to create a compressed (zipped) folder... I checked under "All Programs" and add/remove but can't tell what the program is... I am a techidiot ... any thoughts?

[BC_Programmer]

Compressed folder becomes corrupted when larger than 2 gigabytes

Also XP's ZIP File support will compress more than  65,536 files, but extracting will only extract the first 65536 files.

Also, adding a password requires you to compress the file first, and then add the password. If it failed half-way trough the initial compression, it won't have a password.


I think the second part might be relevant. If there are enough files, it might be passing that limit. You can use a third party Archive Program (WinZIP, PowerArchiver, WinRAR, etc) to extract the files properly.

[techidiot32]

Thanks BC... The file size is 930 MB... everything in the folder did compress successfully... The problem were successfully created a password... it did for some but not for most... and then my computer will not let me remove the password from those that it worked for... and it won't let me delete any files... the error message pops up and I am back to square one...

Is downloading a third party archive program a possible fix?  I would be able to transfer the folder and its contents to the new software and extract from there?

[BC_Programmer]

Thanks BC... The file size is 930 MB... everything in the folder did compress successfully... The problem were successfully created a password... it did for some but not for most...

There is only one ZIP archive. the "compressed folder" is not a folder, but rather a .zip file. Windows XP has a built-in shell extension that let's you look at zip archives as "compressed folders" (Which is silly, because then people assume based on that that they are dealing with a folder, when they are really dealing with a file).

HOWEVER: Within a zip archive, each file is compressed separately, which presumably includes any encryption done via a password. In your case if the file is not actually corrupted but just in a odd inconsistent state, you might have better luck opening it with another archiver, which might correctly recognize that not all the files are encrypted. I would make a copy of the file, first, though.

Is downloading a third party archive program a possible fix?  I would be able to transfer the folder and its contents to the new software and extract from there?

A Compressed folder is actually a .ZIP archive, for which there are plenty of software products available. For what it's worth, I always disable the built-in OS support for ZIP files on Windows, because I find it unreliable and annoying, instead opting for other software products and dealing with the .zip archives as actual files, because that is what they are.

[Linux711]

There are programs specifically made to extract files from corrupted ZIP files. There is Zip2Fix and Zip Repair Pro. I used one of them in the past and it worked well; I don't remember which though.