All the files in this section have been replaced with files that have been AV Authentificated, including Self-Extracting Files.

Initial setting up..

Prior to starting I need to make sure that you have the Pkware files in a directory stated in the path so that Dos can find them. The Pkware directory is the best choice for this. It is also worth remembering that unless C:\ is included in the path statement, you will get an error report from the operating system saying it can't find PKZIP.EXE the minute you change directory off the root.

This is an example of how the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT should look after you have added the BLUE section.

SET PATH=C:\DOS;C:\;C:\PKWARE;C:\WINDOWS

Note  If you use mainly use Windows, include its statement first. There also needs to be a semi-colon separating each part, except at the end of the line.

You need to note where you are in the root first as the ZIP file you create will be placed there unless you direct it to be created elsewhere. A simple CD\ will take you to the main root of the drive you are on.

Once the following files are obtained and copied into the Pkware directory you will be able to follow any example I use without any error message confusing you.

All of my examples are going to be using a directory called RUR. This could be any directory name.

You need these files

1. Pkzip.exe v2.50 (This is the Latest Dos version)
2. Pkunzip.exe
3. Zip2exe.exe
4. Pkfixzip.exe

Not necessary but very useful..

1. Rurpkz.com (My own reminder program for Zip Commands)
2. Rurpku.com (My own reminder program for Un-Zip Commands)
3. Zippal.exe (Brilliant Dos Un-Zipper)

How do I zip files in Dos ?

1. First decide where you want to take action from.
2. Next take a note of where the files are.. Drive, Directory, Sub-Directory.
3. Now decide which files you want to zip.

You need to note where you are in the root first as the ZIP file you create will be placed there unless you direct it to be created elsewhere. A simple CD\ will take you to the main root of the drive you are on. It is also worth remembering that unless C:\ is included in the path statement, you will get an error report from the operating system saying it can't find PKZIP.EXE.

If the you wanted to zip all the files in the RUR Directory into a zip file called RUR.ZIP, in the same directory, you would use this..

cd rur
pkzip rur.zip *.*

Only files having the same 3 digit extension DAT could be zipped by this..

cd rur
pkzip rur.zip *.dat

Now if you wanted to zip all the files in the RUR Directory into a zip file called RUR.ZIP, first you would have to decide where you are going to put the ZIP file. The PKWARE directory is a good choice. This can be done from the Dos prompt, anywhere, on any drive. We only have to include the FROM and TO, to the command line, so you would use this..

pkzip c:\pkware\rur.zip c:\rur\*.*

Only files having the same 3 digit extension DAT could be zipped by this..

pkzip c:\pkware\rur.zip c:\rur\*.dat

How do I re-assemble spanned zip's on my hard drive ?

If you have files spanned across a number of disc's, the filename is the same each disc in the set. Some people mistake these for individual zip files, and when they show an error unpacking, try to repair the zip. This will an individual file. The complete set of files can be copied to your hard drive and re-assembled to the original file, which can then be pkzip-fixed like this.

Using the example of a 2 Disk Set

Make a temporary folder/directory. MD ZIP

Now we Copy the individual files from both disks, changing the names to file1.zip & file2.zip.

Use the Dos Prompt to access the ZIP directory

We now need to use binary copy to re-assemble the two files.

Type this: copy/b file1.zip+file2.zip original.zip

You can use whatever name you like in place of original.zip. Now all we have to do is re-structure the zip using Pkzipfix.exe

Pkzipfix original.zip

This will create a file called Pkfixed. This is your re-created zip.

I shall be adding more to this section in response to emails that suggest further information.