How to zip an ISO file (or other archive file) with WinZip using a right click

The options in the WinZip submenu of the Context Menu (the menu that displays when you right click a file or folder) change when you right click on different items. For example, right clicking on a text file (.txt), multiple files, or a folder will cause Add to entries to be available. Alternately, if you right click one archive file, such as a Zip file, WinZip will not list any Add to entries, but only Extract to options.

The behavior above is true for any of the file types with which WinZip associates itself by default. Some of these file types, such as ISO files, may be ones that you would like to zip from a right click, as they can be compressed further in a Zip file. If you are selecting multiple archive files, multiple mixed files, or a folder you will still find Add to options in the WinZip context menu. If you want to zip just one archive file using a right click, other than a Zip file, you can do so by creating your own Send To command. To do this you would need to:

1. Download and install the WinZip Command Line Support Add-On
   (if you are using an older version of WinZip, you may need to download the appropriate add-on version from the Alternative Download Links page)
2. Open your SendTo folder
   
   Windows 7 or Windows Vista
   • Click Start
   • Type: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
   • Press Enter
   
   Windows XP
   • Click Start, click Run
   • Type: %USERPROFILE%\SendTo
   • Press Enter
   
   
3. Right click in the SendTo folder and create a NewText Document
4. Rename "New Text Document.txt" to something meaningful to you and use a .bat extension, such as Zip_Archive.bat
5. Right click your .bat file and choose Edit
6. Type and then save the following 2 lines in your .bat file:
   
   set file=%~f1
   "C:\Program Files\WinZip\wzzip" -ex "%file:~0,-4%.zip" %1

You should now be able to right click an ISO file (or any other archive) and choose
Send ToZip_Archive.bat (assuming the name) and WZZIP will zip the ISO file, use its current name for the Zip file name, and place the Zip file in the same folder as the original ISO file.

If you want, you can place your .bat file in a different folder, create a shortcut to the .bat file, rename the shortcut, and place the shortcut in the SendTo folder. In this way you could name the shortcut without the extension and change the icon. For example after creating Zip_Archive.bat in the folder of your choice you could:

1. Right click the .bat file and choose Create Shortcut
2. Rename the resulting shortcut to Zip Archive
3. Right click the shortcut and choose Properties
4. In the Shortcut tab of Properties click Change Icon
5. In the Change Icon dialog click Browse
6. Browse to and open the WinZip folder (C:\Program Files\WinZip)
7. Click winzip32.exe to select it and click Open
8. Select the icon in the upper left and click OK
9. Click OK in the Properties dialog

Please email Technical Support if you have questions or issues using the information in this article.

If you are not experienced with using a command line interface, but would like to learn more you may want to read some of the information in Command Line Basics.