If you have large apps and games installed on your Windows 10 PC and are running out of space, you can useCompactGUIreduce its size.The good thing about it is that the application will reduce file size without compromising performance.but what isCompactGUI, and how to use it?
Here's what you need to know.
What is CompactGUI?
CompactGUI is a Windows application that provides lossless and transparent compression using advanced compression algorithms.Lossless compression means that the algorithm that compresses the file only removes redundant data bits to reduce its size without compromising quality.And transparent compression means that Windows and its applications can read the contents of files in compressed form -- without needing to decompress them first.
As a graphical interface, CompactGUI harnesses the power of a command-line tool called Compact.exe to compress files and folders.So, instead of launching Command Prompt and typing commands, you can have CompactGUI handle them in the background with a few clicks and let Compact.exe do its thing.
How to Download CompactGUI for Windows 10
CompactGUI is a lightweight and portable application - you don't need to install it.you just go to Download page on GitHub, then click CompactGUI.exe in the Assets section to start the download.
After you've downloaded CompactGUI, go to the folder where the EXE file is located and double-click it to open the application.
How to Compress Files and Folders with CompactGUI on Windows 10
CompactGUI does not compress individual files, but entire folders.To do this, open the CompactGUI and click on Select Destination Folder.
Navigate to the folder with the content you want to zip, then click Select Folder.
On the next screen, you will see a list of powerful compression algorithms on the left panel.These are the same algorithms that Compact.exe uses to compress files and folders on Windows 10.You'll see them arranged from lowest and fastest compression (Xpress 4K) to highest and slowest (LZK).
It is important to note that do not use the LZK compression algorithm to compress your games and applications as it is the slowest and will negatively impact their performance.
After selecting the compression algorithm, click the compressed folder in the lower right corner.
Then CompactGUI will compress the folder and show you the result.If you have more files to compress, click Return to the selection screen in the upper left corner of the left panel and repeat the above process.
To extract a folder, open CompactGUI and select the compressed folder.Then, click Analysis Folders on the right side of the top menu.After CompactGUI finishes analyzing the compressed folder, click on the uncompressed folder in the lower right corner.
How to Handle Poorly Compressed File Types
Unfortunately, some files are not worth compressing.For example, if you try to use CompactGUI to compress an image file such as JPEG, PNG or GIF, the size reduction will not be as noticeable because these formats are already compressed.That's why the app will skip compressing them by default.
If you want to see the file types that CompactGUI will skip when compressing the folder they are in, open the application and click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the title bar.The file types it will bypass will be listed in the text box under Bad Compressed File Types, you can add more file types to the list if you wish.
If you want to compress these files desperately, move down to the settings section and uncheck the box to skip poorly compressed files.
When you're done making changes, click Save and restart CompactGUI for them to take effect.
Easily clean up hard disk space with CompactGUI
If you want to free up space on your computer's hard drive on Windows 10, you should consider compressing large files.This is especially true for apps and games that take up a lot of space. CompactGUI allows you to do this by leveraging Windows' powerful compression algorithms, providing solid compression without causing performance hitches.
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