Printing a List of the Files in an Archive

To print the list of files shown in the main WinZip® window, choose Print from the File pull-down menu. The columns shown in the WinZip window will be printed. The standard Print dialog box lets you choose which printer should be used, how many copies are printed, whether to print in landscape or portrait mode, etc.

You can also print a listing of the files in an archive from a My Computer or Windows Explorer window. Simply right click the archive and choose Print from the context menu.

Hint: you can change the content of the printed file listing by changing the columns that are shown in the WinZip window. To do this, cancel the print request, right click any column header and choose the columns you want, and click Print again.

How to Print a List of the Files in an Archive to a Text File on Disk

You can also use the Print item on the File pull-down menu to save the list of files in an archive in a text file on disk. However, you first may need to set up a "printer port" to do this.

To set up such a printer port, perform the following steps:

1. From the Start menu, click Settings, then Printers.
2. Double click Add Printer. The Add Printer Wizard will start. Click Next to advance to the next panel.
3. Check the Local printer option button, and click Next. Windows may display a small window and progress meter while it builds a printer information database. If you see such a window, wait until the process completes.
4. You should now see a panel with two lists: one of printer manufacturers and another of printers. Scroll down the list of Manufacturers until you see the item Generic, and then click this item. The Printers list should automatically change to have the entry "Generic/Text Only". Click Next.
5. Windows then may need to load a driver from files already on your hard disk or from your Windows distribution CD-ROM or diskettes. Follow the instructions for doing so. If instead you see a panel that says "A driver is already installed for this printer ...", check the Keep existing driver option button, and click Next.
6. In the next panel, select "File" from the Available ports window, and click Next.
7. In the next panel, you can use the Windows-generated name for the printer, or you can enter a more descriptive name such as "Print to Disk File" in the Printer name field, and then click Next.
8. In the next panel, check the option button labeled Yes in response to the question "Would you like to print a test page?", and then click Finish.
9. Windows will prepare a test page, and then display a "Print To File" dialog. You can use this dialog to specify the file and folder into which the print output should go.
10. After printing is complete, there should be a file containing the print output in the location you specified. Using a utility such as Notepad, check the output to make sure it looks all right. Windows will ask you if the test page printed correctly. Assuming it did so, click Yes.

From now on, when you print to your new "Print to Disk File" printer, the output will go to a plain text file on your disk, and you can then use a utility such as Notepad to view and edit the output.

In WinZip, to save an archive listing to a text file, select Print from WinZip's File menu. When the Print dialog appears, click the arrow on the Name drop-down list, select your "Print to Disk File" printer, and click OK. Windows will ask for a file name for your text file and then WinZip will direct the listing to the text file.

Windows tip: you can use your new Print to Disk File printer to send print output to disk from almost any Windows application, as long as the application allows you to select a printer when you produce print output. Just select your "Print to Disk File" printer as the destination for the output.