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How do I turn off Compressed Folders (built-in support for ZIP files) in Windows Vista and XP?

Intended For
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2003
By default, Windows Vista and Windows XP treats ZIP files like folders. If you're not familiar with ZIP files, this can be convenient.

However, if you've already got a utility in place to manage your ZIP files (such as WinZip), this new feature can just get in the way. For example, Windows will look inside ZIP files when using the Search tool, a process that not only causes searches to take longer, but one that may cause incomplete information to be displayed in the In Folder column of the search results. Worse, ZIP files show up in the folder tree in Windows Vista, which looks like a big mess whenever you view a folder full of them.

Naturally, Microsoft hasn't provided any easy way to turn this feature off. Here's how to do it:

Windows Vista

Turn it off (the easy way):
  1. Download vistaunzip.reg, and save it to your desktop.
  2. Double-click the vistaunzip.reg file, and then click Continue, Yes, and then OK when prompted.
  3. Restart Windows (the change won't take effect until you do).

Turn it off (by hand):

  1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
  2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID
  3. Delete this key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0-B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31}
  4. Delete this key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262}
  5. Restart Windows (the change won't take effect until you do).

If, at any time, you wish to re-enable Windows Vista's built-in ZIP support, just follow these steps:

  1. Download vistazip.reg, and save it to your desktop.
  2. Double-click the vistazip.reg file, and then click Continue, Yes, and then OK when prompted.
  3. Restart Windows (the change won't take effect until you do).

Windows XP

Turn it off:
  1. Select Run from the Start Menu.
  2. Type regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
  3. The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all traces of the built-in ZIP support to disappear.

If, at any time, you wish to re-enable Windows XP's built-in ZIP support, just follow these steps:

  1. Select Run from the Start Menu.
  2. Type regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
  3. The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all features of the built-in ZIP support to be available.

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Written by: Annoyances.org
Last updated: Wednesday, February 7, 2007

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