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PkZip and PkUnzip are utilities which have the following purposes:
PkZip/Unzip is shareware, and a $47. fee should be paid to PkWare.
Think of PkZIP as 'compressing' and MIME as 'mimicing'. They both encrypt files, but for different purposes.
An archiving or packing program such as PKZip rewrites the file into compressed form. MIME translates a file into a simulated text form for email transfer. Therefore a text file which is Zipped cannot be emailed over the internet without MIME.
Most mail readers such as Pegasus and Eudora automatically use MIME for attachments, so it is transparent. So you don't have to play Master Geek to send files. AOL has a limited MIME capability, which I believe is Base64. Juno and others require external MIME converters, such as WinCode, and it is often necessary to use text editors to remove the email headers.
MIME can be used on Zipped files, and either you or your email reader must
convert Zipped files to MIME to ship them.
Only if you want to compress your own files ...
It helps to use maximum compression. (Maximum compression takes slightly longer and achieves optimum compression.)
Also, if you save files on a floppy, it helps to define your hard drive as the work (PKTMP) directory. The following
configuration file makes it automatic pkcfg.zip This is a text file,
called pkzip.cfg :
COMPRESS=maximal
PKTMP=C:
That's the entire file.
The "Small Brained" version of a .pdf reader is available as freeware from www.adobe.com. The Windows95 version comes with a search engine (download) (5meg) and without a search engine (4meg). The "Small Brained" version is not capable of converting .pdf files to text, but is otherwise functional.
It may require that you run Windows in the 'safe mode' for installation if you have video set to high resolution, but
should run well after that. To get rid of the initial splash screen (with the small brained jumper), go to
'Preferences.
.pdf files are pre-formatted and normally contain embedded images. These are popular for certain documents and forms
where the author for one reason or another wants a more rigid or fixed display format instead of an HTML display.
(HTML displays are user-configurable.)
These are a compressed format and the basic players aren't diskhogs. The easiest place to find the players is at www.mpeg.org. There are various Linux, Unix and other OS versions. There is a DOS version which runs on W95, etc. but not very well.
So if you hadn't yet gotten a copy of Linux ...
Look for ActiveMovie or actmovie.exe link.
ActiveMovie should self-load in Netscape by selecting rundll32 as 'handled by'. You can also select ActiveMovie, with
the extensions as .mpg and .mpv and the MIME type as video/mpeg but this should not be necessary.
Quicktime is one of several programs which display full motion video. This is a cross-platform format and different programs for this can run on Linux/Unix, W95, and W3.1 and perhaps even a Mac. The Apple site - www.apple.com/quicktime/ requires registration, and if the older versions are available, I couldn't find them. I was able to locate an earlier, less bloated version (rev.2.1.2) at a freeware site, www.odyssey.on.ca/ftp/ftp95.htm (or perhaps simply www.odyssey.on.ca/ftp/). Choose either the combined viewer and plugin or either, that applies to your platform.
Rev.2.1.2 ran through two install sequences (automatically) but this seemed to be correct. The second install appears
to either load a driver or add Quicktime as a Netscape plugin.
Any Damn Browser.