We often come across files that are of utmost importance but we do not need to access them on a regular basis. For most of us this can be a slight of an inconvenience because we realize that these files end up taking a lot of space on our system or hard drive. And no we cannot afford to play around with these files by deleting them. Then what do we do as we need the space but are unable to manage it by keeping all these files. Curious about the simple solution to keeping these files and creating more space? Then, continue to read on…
The easy and simple solution is compressing these files. It is an easy way to backup these important files and also a simple solution to creating more space. NTFS the abbreviation for this is simple New Technology File System. This is one of the ways to get your files compressed. To know more on NTFS compression continue to read on…
When do you create and Use NTFS Compression?
The answer is as easy as it can get. Whenever you have an important document like an account sheet from a few years ago or a medical record that you need but do not refer often. These are a few examples of important documents that are required but you do not have to open these files on a regular basis. It is then that you create and use NTFS compression. At the same time, you can also use this as a backup for your files. Along with that, you can use this to save space as most of these files can take up a lot of space and you need space for every important current file you can always use NTFS compression.
Every time, you open that file which has been compressed you end up decompressing it. And every time you close the file after reading it automatically compresses it. Remember this is for an already compressed NTFS. So, now the main question arises.....
How do you use NTFS Compression?
It is simple and easy. Just follow the instructions below.
Remember, this is for backup and not to be accessed often. So, all you need to do is follow these steps to know how to compress it.
1. Create a folder ‘Accounts’ and within that folder create another new folder ‘Accounts 2010’.
2. Now, go back to ‘Accounts’ and right click on it. In the drop down menu click on Properties.
3. In the new Accounts, Properties window click on the small box Advanced.
4. In the new Advanced window tick the box that says ‘Compress contents to save Disk space’. And then click on OK.
5. The moment you click OK, there is a new window that opens that gives an option that says ‘Apply changes to this folder only’ or ‘Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files’. Tick the box that suits your requirement and click on OK.
6. The moment that is done, your folder name Accounts will be in the color blue and that is so that you know it is compressed.
One of the key advantages to this is that you can have a compressed file and a decompressed file in the same compressed folder. You are thinking how is that possible. Well, it is simple all you need to do is open the file that you want to keep as decompressed and go back to the 4th step where you can unselect or un-tick the box of ‘compress contents… space’ and click OK. By doing so you have an uncompressed file and compressed files in the same folder.
Now you might be wondering when do I use this NTFS compression. It is recommended as a backup for files that you do not open often. Because the more often you compress and decompress the folder you end up wearing it out then you are more likely to have the files stored and scattered in different spaces. So, it is suggested that you use NTFS compression on documents that you don’t use mostly accounts or folders of past that are important but not used often.
While doing all of this sometimes it can get a bit tricky or if you are in a hurry and you end up formatting an NTFS partition then don’t panic. These things do happen and luckily there is a solution to it. Simply go ahead and read know how to unformat a formatted NTFS partition.
