Disable Windows XP's Built In Zip support

Windows XP comes with built in support for uncompressing zip'd files. If you prefer to continue using a dedicated utility like pkzip or winzip which has more functionality, you probably need to disable the limited capability of XP to prevent interactions and problems, run the following command: regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll Want to re-enable the built in zip capability, run the following command: regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll Additionally Windows XP by default, opens EVERY compressed file to search through because it treats them as directories. This can extend the time taken for a drive-level search for up hours and sometimes hangs (the search windows) before it can complete. Another reason to disable the builtin zip server - if you keep lots of zip files on your HD and you use XP search capabilities. Chris comments: found that the way windowsXP treats zips like folders was the stupidest thing ever, so of course I wanted it gone right away. I ran regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll and It worked, but now winzip wasn't associated with zip files, I ran winzip to re-associate and the zip/folder 'bug' was back. The fix is: - Rename zipfldr.dll and say OK when Windows complains. - Don't worry about the scary message that says stability will be affected. - Then double-click on a zip file and reassociate when WinZip asks you to. Then your WinZip functionality will be back and Windows Search won't search within zip files.