>Micheal,
>
>My version of XP Pro seems to be a bit different to yours.
>
>To manually create a compressed folder I have to create a normal folder then set its advanced properties to 'Compress contents to save disk space'. The colour of the entry for the directory in Explorer then changes from black to blue. I think it should be possible to do this from within VFP, using Win32 API calls.
>
>I don't have the option to create a file of type Zip nor drag and drop other unzipped files onto it. I think you may have installed a version of Zip that has added to your right click Explorer menu and given you these extra facilities.
>
>On a point of paranoia, files placed in compressed directories show the same unchanged file size in Explorer, whereas if I Zip them either in or out of the folder, the reduced file size is shown. So, when using the first method, how do we know the file is 'really' compressed and if so by how much?
>
>Alan

Nope, on a brand new XP installation, if you rightclick on the desktop and choose "New", the sub menu there contans an entry for "Compressed (zipped) Folder". At least it does on XP Pro installations.