opinions on free zip programs

I've got Pictures galore on my desk and need to remove them to speed up some .Unbeknown to me, AFTER I buy a 4GB jump stick Thinking that should cover them HA! I clicked on Just my pic file property only and found I have 13GB of pics to shrink,remove copies and transfer to the stick.That's just in my pic folder I also have pics in other places as well:-o. So the prob is I am financially crunched and needed a free,good. trustworthy and safe program to compact my pics and another free program to help sort/find copies.I ask because I know the peeps here are good for their word when it comes to helping others. Thanks in advance<

 

I'm going to completely ignore your actual question and tell you, as someone who does tech support on USB memory sticks that to use them to back up important stuff is not a good idea. They are not built for long-term storage of anything, they are built and tested to transport files from one computer to another. Temporary storage and portability, in other words.

If you want to back up your pictures to something that won't crap out on you for no good reason just to spite you, burn them to a DVD. A USB stick is not a good back-up device. They're not built for that.

 

ok that's fine I can accept that but that put a wrench in it as my cd/dvd on my desk isn't functioning right. It doesn't burn dvd's any more. So can i copy to the mem stick and transfer to my lap then burn? Or would it be better to copy to my son's portable hard drive then copy/burn from there .(Not sure how to burn off the port hrd drv)He's not here so I can't ask him how)

 

Ouch. It sucks when the optical drives die on you!

Burning the images from the laptop should work just fine. Just put your images on the stick, plug it in the laptop, move them to the hard drive (quicker access and less wear on memory stick) and burn them to the disc.

Oh, right! For zipping, archiving and unpacking, I use 7zip. It puts itself in the right-click menu in Windows and is really good. I've had it for years and never thought about switching to a different one since it can do everything I need it to.

 

Thanks I'll get it set up tomorrow. I need to start bringing all my pics into one folder and that means finding and deleting copies and bad shots.

 

In addition to that ... be warned, even CDs and DVDs are not immune to such degrading. Eventually, even a CD/DVD will degrade and become unreadable. If you want to be sure, burn them to a DVD, put the DVD in a good case, store it in an airtight container, away from light, moisture and any magnets, and get yourself a HDD docking station with a compatible HDD, use it as a backup for such things and put it in the same, airtight and water resistant container. You can never be 100% certain that they will keep, but that's the best way to.

 

I know nothing will last forever but if I put them in a plastic case and and use my "Food Saver" vacuum machine(I use it for just about everything rolleyes) would that be OK?

 

Ok! So what you are saying and correct me if I'm wrong, is that if I have 13GB of pics I would need to open at least 3 accounts to be able to store all the photos. Is that right?

 

Ya, that would be OK if you want to go that far, nothing wrong with it. I would just make two copies of each disk and store one copy physically away from your other disks, like in a separate shed or a relatives home. This is what businesses do.

Just get quality CD/DVD's and you should be OK. Last I heard was 10 to 100 years, the original format/app could be lost first before the disk itself expired. I mean, who can mount a cassette tape or an 8" floppy these days. The Smithsonian perhaps?

 

...and it's safe. I don't have any real time security (in a severe money crunch that's why I look for free) so I have to monitor and do a clean sweep manually for my desk. and the less chances of going some where unfamiliar the safer I feel.

 

Hmm, you've been here for quite a while, haven't you seen and implemented the sticky in the malware forum? That's about the best advice you can get and for free apps. I don't get why you all of a sudden changed your focus from backing up your pics properly to general computer hygiene.

Sorry if I missed the transition.:confused

 

Sorry I have AVG Free that automatically runs,spy bot that I run MBAM, SAS SYGATE (to which I am changing as it is giving me problems.) I unlike others here or elsewhere for that fact am not working and the income I do get is set and that's keeping me in a vehicle and barely that. My other half has a job one day a week that pays crap and a retirement that pays the same, Crap.He takes care of the rest for us. The next best thing to paying for real time security is to be careful and watch my P's and Q's while on the net. Thank You for your help.

@augie As you can see Yes I have and Yes I did. I'm not changing anything DOM told of a web site and I just wanted to make sure it was safe . I started out asking about Free Zip programs so that I could compress my photos and remove the ones I don't use a lot to try and gain some memory back as I CAN NOT afford to buy any thing at this time. I evidently am not wording things properly here.Sorry!!!

 

Very true. The best thing you can do is redundancy. I have my photos on three hard drives, and on DVDs that are stored on a shelf where it is dark and no magnets. Duplicates.

 

Lol yes, and in addition to that, what Augie Doggie said,

Is also a very good suggestion.

 

Pssst... bigtrucks is a she

 

LOL, kinda hard to tell on a forum eh?:-D

EDIT: Oops, a tech thread. +1 for 7ZIP here.:innocent :-D

 

Ouch! Just wait until she gets back, folks, she will be on the warpath! LOL