What is a self extracting file?

Article No. 13
Created: 06:09 PM 02.23.04
Author: Henk Devos [Link: henk@whirlingdervishes.com]
Original URL: http://www.alphazip.com/faq/question.php?qstId=13

A self extfacting file is a file that doesn't need any installed progams to be read. It can read or extract itself.

A self extracting file is really a program that encapsulates a compressed file.

Self extracting files are handy in case you want to send an archive to someone else by email or you want to make it available for download, but you don't know if the other person knows how to handle archive files.

A self extracting file is also sometimes called self extracting archive or SFX.

Back to original article