Compression Program Information
KnowWare's Winstall Freeware Program
The PKZIP, LHA and ARJ programs are common compression programs for compressing files for distribution on the Internet. It is useful to have these programs on your computer and you will need them in order to run KnowWare's 16-bit Archiversand Echo On programs. (The Echo On program only requires PKZIP.)
KnowWare has written a freeware installer program, Winstall, which will automatically install the PKZIP, ARJ and LHA programs onto your system.
Instaler.exe is a self-extracting EXE file. To extract it, place it in an empty directory and then use Windows Explorer (Win 95) or File Manager (Win 3.x) to go to that directory and double click on instaler.exe to extract it into its component files. (Note: File Manager users will have to push F5 to refresh the directory viewer and see the files after they're extracted) After the files have been extracted, double click on winstall.exe to run the Winstall program and install the three compression programs.
PKZIP is a shareware program from PKWARE which has a $47.00 registration fee. It comes in the form of the PKZ204G.EXE file which is a self-extracting EXE containing a group of EXEs that perform different tasks. For the KnowWare programs, you will need PKUNZIP.EXE, ZIP2EXE.EXE, PKZIPFIX.EXE and PKZIP.EXE. The PKZIP program is generally considered the industry standard for compression. Much of what you download from online services and BBSs will be in the *.ZIP format. PKZIP works by taking a group of files and compressing them into one file. You can also use PKZIP for storing groups of files that you don't use very often and want to store on a disk. PKZIP compresses the files so that you can store more on a disk, and then you can quickly unzip them again if you need to use them.
All of the compression program files that we list on our home page are self extracting EXE files. They need to be extracted into a directory that is in your path. If you don't understand what that means, please see our installation instructions.
LHA is a free shareware compression program. The compressed EXE file is LHA213.EXE (EXE name depends on version), but the actual EXE that you need for the Archivers or WinDirs program is LHA.EXE. LHA creates compressed files with the LZH extension.
All of the compression program files that we list on our home page are self extracting EXE files. They need to be extracted into a directory that is in your path. If you don't understand what that means, please see our installation instructions.
ARJ is a shareware program which can be registered for $40.00. The compressed EXE is ARJ239a.EXE or ARJ250.EXE (these are the two most recent versions). The EXE that you need for the Archivers program is ARJ.EXE. It creates compressed files with the ARJ extension.
All of the compression program files that we list on our home page are self extracting EXE files. They need to be extracted into a directory that is in your path. If you don't understand what that means, please see our installation instructions.
All of KnowWare's Shareware programs require the VBRUN300.DLL file in order to function. It is very likely that you already have vbrun300.dll on your system, but if you don't you can download it here. The vbrun300.dll file is a small file which must be in your windows\system directory in order to run any Visual Basic program. It is also in the form of a self-extracting exe file.
Dealing With Self-Extracting EXE Files
All of the files that we have on our pages for you to download are in the form of "self-extracting EXEs." This means that when you execute them, like you would a normal exe file, they uncompress themselves into a group of files.
The best way to deal with a self-extracting EXE is to put it into a test or dummy directory where you can uncompress it into its component files. It's best if you have the self-extracting file in a directory by itself when you extract it so that you don't end up with a bunch of files all mixed together. When you're ready to extract the file, go to File Manager in Windows 3.1x or Windows Explorer in Windows 95. Double click on the self-extracting EXE and you will see it extract into a group of files (push F5 in File Manager to have the files appear). If you have extracted the file containing one of the KnowWare programs, you can then double click on the setup EXE file and the setup program will then install the program onto your computer.
If the self-extracting EXE is for one of the file compression programs (PKZIP, LHA, or ARJ), after extracting it you will need to copy the necessary EXE files into a directory in your path (e.g. the DOS or Windows directory). The statement that lists the directories in your path is located in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (A typical path statement would be: PATH = C:\DOS; C:\WINDOWS; C:\UTILS etc.). In File Manager or Exporer highlight the extracted EXE file (or files) for the PKZIP, LHA or ARJ programs and then choose Copy from the File menu (in File Manger) and type in the path of where you want to copy it to (e.g. C:\windows). If you are using Windows 95's Exporer, just drag the files with your mouse to the directory where you want them to be. If you are installing the Archivers program it will check for you to see whether all of these programs have been installed properly. In the Archivers Options menu, or using the instant pop-up menu with the right mouse click, choose "Check Installed Components." You can also look to see what your path statement says by choosing "Show DOS Path."
If you have downloaded and extracted the VBRUN300 file, you will need to also copy it into your windows\system directory using the copy function of the File Manager or Explorer.
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