AutoHotkey Community

[Johny]

What do you do with the different installation files, patches and application updates that you have downloaded and installed? It's a good idea to keep them in case a re-installation is required, but where? You could always place them in some sort of "my download" sub-directories but these have the danger to get mixed, overcrowded and hard to maintain.

Personally, I store them in sub-directories called "zip" where applications are installed, like "c:\program files\app\multimedia\Gimp\Zip". It's clean and easy to maintain. To backup these along with their directory structures, you may do a series of "explorer" tricks or use this macro.

http://www.autohotkey.net/~Johny/ZipDirToZip/ZipDir2Zip V1.0.ahk

I found several macros that copy some directories to another but none that do compress them (please correct me if I'm wrong). So this one use the pseudo-hidden command-line capabilities of WinZip to archive all the "zip" sub-directories starting from a defined path. It creates one nice big “.zip” archive that can be placed on a CD, DVD, a flash disk or a safe place on a hard-disk. This could also be used as an easy way to share all your favorites’ sharewares with your friends.

One weakness: it depends on WinZip V8 or newer. If anyone has ideas about a "WinZip command-line to something else" macro, like WinZip to IZArc or WinZip to XP zip interface, please share them with us.

Enjoy
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Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Johny