HOW DO I DECOMPRESS FILES ON ENTIRE HARD DRIVE? - Microsoft OS Forum - Software

HOW DO I DECOMPRESS FILES ON ENTIRE HARD DRIVE? - Microsoft OS Forum - Software



Lakehaven,

Click on Start|Run.  Type  cmd and press Enter to get to the command prompt:

If you compressed the entire drive and wish to decompress it, type cd\ and press Enter to get to the root directory of your drive. Now type compact /u /s /i *.*   This will decompress your entire drive. If you only want to decompress your Windows folder, type compact /u /s:Windows /i *.*

Read on for more complete details.

File Systems

Compact is the command-line version of the real-time NTFS compression functionality used in Windows Explorer. Compact displays and alters the compression of folders and files on NTFS volumes. It also displays the compression state of folders. The syntax of Compact is:

compact [/c|/u] [/s[:folder]] [/a] [/i] [/f] [/q] [filename [...]]

Table 17.14 describes the switches available with Compact.

Table 17.14 Compact Switches

SwitchDescriptionnoneDisplays the compression state of the current folder./cCompresses the specified folder or file./uDecompresses the specified folder or file./s[:folder]Specifies that the requested action (compress or decompress) be applied to all subfolders of the specified folder, or to the current folder if none is specified./aDisplays files with the hidden or system attribute./iIgnores errors./fForces a specified folder or file to compress or decompress./qReports only the most essential information.filenameSpecifies a file or folder. You can use multiple file names and wildcard characters./?Displays user help.

The following are reasons to use this tool rather than the Windows Explorer equivalent:

• You can use Compact in a batch file. Using the /i switch enables you to skip files that cannot be opened when you are running in batch mode, such as files already in use by another program.
• If the system failed during compression or decompression when using Windows Explorer, the file or folder is marked as Compressed or Uncompressed, even if the operation did not complete. You can force the operation to complete by using Compact with the /f switch (with either the /c or /u switch).