Disable zip file support

  • Thread starter Thread starter Len Norton
  • Start date Start date
L

Len Norton

Does anyone know how to disable Vista's inbuilt zip file support so that
they display as ordinary files?

Regards, Len
 
But zip files are not folder files. Zip files are archived compressed files.
Since files in a zip or cab are compressed, the files can't be opened in the
zip or cab. It's the mechanics of the compression technology.
 
Hi,

If you disable the native ability to read .zip files, then you won't be able
to open them at all. If you want to display them as oridinary files, you
need to unzip (decompress) them.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Well for Windows XP, theirs a DLL that you can unregister. That is what I
did. Then I installed WinZip 10 which I like a lot better. I installed
Winzip 10 on Vista too, but I never unregistered the dll.

I will have to do some research to find that DLL and I don't know if it will
be the same in Vista or not. One thing for sure (if your doing something
similar to what I did), you want to unregister the DLL first before
installing WinZip 10. Otherwise the unregistration of the DLL has a
harmfull effect on WinZip (in that it takes away the icon... as to what the
icon looks like).

Let me know if this is where your heading. When you do this, it speeds up
the way your Windows Explorer works.
 
Maybe I didn't make myself clear.
I want to disable Vista's inbuilt support of zip files so that they don't
display as pseudo-folders but as an ordinary file of type "xxxxx.zip".
I'll then use WinZip to do all the necessary extracting etc.
You could do this in WinXP by unregistering the zipfldr.dll, but this
doesn't work in Vista.

Regards, Len
 
so you don't want a icon? If that's the case, then delete the file
association in File Types.
 
No, what I want is for the Explorer window to show the zip files in
collating sequence along with the rest of the files.
At the moment all the zip files are grouped at the start of the list, as if
they were folders.
Like this -
aaa.zip
bbb.zip
zzz.zip
aaa.txt
bbb.exe
zzz.jpg

what I want is -
aaa.txt
aaa.zip
bbb.exe
bbb.zip
zzz.jpg
zzz.zip

Regards, Len
 
No, that's what I have at the moment and it still groups all the zip files
first.

Regards, Len
 
you'll have to wait until someone figures out how to unregister zip
files. Vista treats them as folders than actual files.

Has anyone tried to right-click > run as "administrator" on the cmd.exe
before unregistering zipfldr.dll?

-Luke
 
Yes, I've tried as Administrator, but the problem is that the zipfldr.dll
doesn't contain the necessary
"DllUnregisterServer" function which is what gets executed when you enter
"regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll"

Regards, Len
 
Len Norton said:
Maybe I didn't make myself clear.
I want to disable Vista's inbuilt support of zip files so that they don't
display as pseudo-folders but as an ordinary file of type "xxxxx.zip".
I'll then use WinZip to do all the necessary extracting etc.
You could do this in WinXP by unregistering the zipfldr.dll, but this
doesn't work in Vista.

In earlier builds of Vista, "regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll" worked to turn
off the in-box Compressed Folders extension, just as it does on
Windows 2003/XP and earlier.

Somewhere on or before build 5456, this ability stopped working. This
was bugged from the beta test group and was declared "will not fix -
by design". (Feedback ID 157303 for anyone with access to see them.)

So I don't know exactly why it cannot be turned off, but it seems that
for now it indeed cannot be turned off. Maybe its now a built-in
function of Explorer rather than an extension, and we're waiting for
them to surface a configuration policy for Explorer.

Alan Adams
 
Okay, I wasn't sure. Microsoft will do what they can to make it harder...
so that your forced to use their version.
 
In current builds of Windows Vista zip files are no longer mixed with
folders when being displayed in explorer, they are displayed as files as one
would expect.

Was that change after 5472? I am about to file a bug report about some
strange 'folder access denied' errors when trying to zip files from a
read-only network share, and I'm wondering if that's related to the way Vista
is treating zip files (and that it may get fixed).

I guess I'll file the report anyways just in case, but the handling of zip
files is definitely a bit odd in Vista.

-- George.
 
Was that change after 5472?

No, it was changed shortly after 5384.
I am about to file a bug report about some
strange 'folder access denied' errors when trying to zip files from a
read-only network share, and I'm wondering if that's related to the way
Vista
is treating zip files (and that it may get fixed).

This sounds like a permissions issue. Could you open all the files in all
the folders that you were trying to zip via the network share?
I guess I'll file the report anyways just in case, but the handling of zip
files is definitely a bit odd in Vista.

It is definately slow.

- JB

Vista Support FAQ
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/
 
I filed the bug report, but then after doing some research discovered the
cause - not Vista related, though the handling of the issue is awkward at
best.

And since I'm not a beta tester I can't update my filed bug, but then again
since I'm not a beta tester I'm not even sure they spend a lot of time
looking at them :-)

In any case, it appears that Winzip gives the final ZIP file the same file
permissions as the most restricted file in the same - one file, some sort of
Intuit protection thing, didn't have 'Everyone' and 'Users' in the security
list, only the one user that installed it. So the ZIP got the same
restricted permission, and that kept it from being copies across a network
share.

The awkward thing is that Vista throws up three error boxes - first some
sort of 'administrator needed' box, then a User Account Control box, and
finally the 'Folder Access Denied' box (note the use of the word 'folder',
when in fact the access problem was with a 'file').

Hmmmm.
 
I think I know what you mean Len.

The zipped folder looks too much like an ordinary folder at some
resolutions.

If it helps at all I append "zip" to the folder name to make it clearly
distinguishable from folder(s) with a similar name.

It would seem handy to have an option to append "zip" to the file (oops)
folder name of any zipped files (oops!) folders :)
 
Years ago I defaulted myself to have all extensions visible. It prevents
confusion when you have the same document in .doc and .rtf, for instance,
since MSWord will display the same icon. It also helps in avoiding some
malwares that have a fictitious extension followed by .exe; if you have
common extensions hidden, the .exe is hidden and the unknowing user (that'd
be me) has a propensity to click on such things.
 
I can see that the icons are different, and I do indeed have "show
extensions" turned on - so I don't get confused.
It just irks me slightly that I can't just view ALL files in a simple
collating sequence.
Carrying this "grouping" idea to an extreme would mean that all the .bmp
would be listed first, then the .exe
then the .jpg, and so on.
That's OK as an OPTION, but I'd like the choice.
Geez, I'm turning into a grumpy old man . . :)

Regards, Len
PS: I'm not sure what the performance impact is, either.
Under WinXP displaying a folder with a large number (several hundred) of zip
files took AGES unless you did the zipfldr tweak.
 
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