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Is there any possibility (driver, software, filesystem addon) to enable windows to handle archives like ordinary folders? so that any program that uses file API can access to data within archives like any other files too (without being explicitly enabled to support archives)?

For example if there is some archive at d:\somePath\myArchive.zip with content

readme.txt
someFolderInArchive/notes.txt

passing d:\somePath\myArchive.zip\readme.txt to any program should be resolved by the system to enable the program to read the file.

since at the end all file access is handled by the OS (at least if the program does not do filesystem handling on its own and reading at the block device level) it should in theory be possible to implement archive support on file API level rather than on application level.

Is there any support from Microsoft side or by other tools that can do this?

Ahmed Ashour
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vlad_tepesch
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4 Answers4

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There is ZIP integration to a certain degree because the explorer has support for it. Due to the nature of zip files it's not easily possible to just "replace" or extend a file. So what you're looking for isn't possible for arbitrary compressed file formats.

What you could do is use NTFS compression. In which case the compression happens on a filesystem level.

Seth
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Windows does not support that kind of address for zip-archive contents, so you need to look for third-party software. Since Microsoft has added zip support to Explorer, the number of such applications that are still updated is sharply reduced.

Below are some applications that can mount a zip archive as a virtual disk or folder (untested):

harrymc
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Double Commander is a dual pane file manager, which shows the contents of two directories. It is free, even for commercial use (and open source).

You choose which two directories to view.

Just as in Windows, you can treat a ZIP file (use plugins for other archive formats; I use .RAR & .ISO a few times per year, but .zip on a daily basis) as a directory.

When viewing the contents of the directory, you can :

  • view a file
  • edit a file
  • launch a file (I just an Excel spreadsheet), update it and save the result back into the archive
  • copy a file to/from the directory in the other pane; i.e copy a file from the archive or copy a new file into the archive
  • search the archive for file name or file contents
  • delete a file

You cannot, however, rename a file in the archive.

It is also possible to select one or more files in one pane and create an archive containing them in the directory shown in the other pane.

Archive handling, however, is the least of what DC an do; I urge you to try it - you won't use Windows Explorer again.

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Mawg
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Right click empty space on your Desktop. Choose:

New > compressed folder.

This will create a compressed folder on your desktop where any files moved into/out of it are auto compressed/decompressed. Said files can be opened normally. ie: Anything in the folder is as automatic/transparent as a good old NTFS compressed folder.

Now Rename the folder to whatever, keeping the .zip extension and move it wherever you want.

(Works a treat in flash/thumb drives (for compressible text and spreadsheet etc files) making the drive stinkingly fast and ~10x larger)

Simple really. Why didn't you just ask me directly in the 1st place?!
:D

EDIT: Sorry no; not quite as transparent: While a file in the compressed folder can be opened and edited/changed, it needs to be saved uncompressed elsewhere before being moved back into the compressed folder as the .zip 'folder' is seen as the file it actually is...

Robocopy may be a solution to this by auto moving files saved in another folder into the .zip 'folder' https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/automatically-move-files-one-folder-another-windows-10

Neville Cawood
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