How to Open a ZIP File in Earlier Versions of Windows

There's no built-in support for opening ZIP files in versions of Windows that preceded Windows XP. So, if you're using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT or Windows 2000, then you need a special application to open ZIP files. If you don't already have such a program, I recommend 7-Zip. It's simple and free.

One way that you can determine whether you already have software that unzips ZIP files is to right-click on a ZIP file and see, in the pop-up menu that appears, whether you have a listing for a program or an action which, when you hover over it, produces another pop-up menu with an option to Extract.