[SOLVED] Windows 10 Enable File and Folder Compression Option Questions

[MasterYoda327]

I have recently formatted a hard drive in Disc Management on Windows 10 Home for use to store my entire FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Compression) music collection. I have used the NTFS format as recommended in the hard drive formatting instructions. Since my music hard drive has a large storage capacity, I see no need to use the Enable File and Folder Compression option. However, out of curiosity I have questions about what would happen if I did use the mentioned compression option.

1. How would I know if my files and folders are compressed by the File and Folder Compression feature?
2. Would the compression impact the sound quality of my FLAC song files?
3. If I copied or transferred the FLAC songs or any other files or folders from my music hard drive to a different hard drive (e.g. external hard drive or another computer) which did not have the compression option enabled, would the files and folders still be compressed or would they be automatically uncompressed?
4. If I can uncompress a file and folder, how would I do that?
5. Can I disable the File and Folder Compression option for the entire hard drive without having to format it again? If yes, how? Would that automatically uncompress all of my files and folders within the hard drive?
6. If the files and folders are still compressed when transferred over to a different hard drive that does not have the File and Folder Compression option enabled, if such a method exists, how would I be able to have all of the compressed files and folders uncompressed all at once instead of having to uncompress them one-by-one?

Thanks.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

1. Compressed files, by default, will be listed in blue by Windows Explorer (only when using native compression)
2. Compression is lossless (obviously) and will not affect your files in any way.
3. Copying/moving files from a compressed volume to a non-compressed volume will result in the files on the destination being decompressed.
4. Either disable compression for that folder or copy to an uncompressed volume.
5. Yes, just deselect the compression check on the properties page.
6. Compression/decompression happens on the fly. There's nothing you need to do.

However, the compression isn't going to give you massive amounts of space as most files only compress by no more than 20% (80% original size) or so. Greatest compression comes with text files and such.

Now, keep in mind that selecting to compress/decompress a volume/directory/file will immediately start the compression process. On an entire volume this can take considerable time. You can still use your system but it may be laggy during the process. You also want to ensure that, if this is the system disk, you do NOT compress the root directory or you will render your system unbootable.

 

[popatim]

I would not compress files that are already compressed myself.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Windows native compression is smart enough that it doesn't try to (re)compress such files.

 

[MasterYoda327]

1. Compressed files, by default, will be listed in blue by Windows Explorer (only when using native compression)
2. Compression is lossless (obviously) and will not affect your files in any way.
3. Copying/moving files from a compressed volume to a non-compressed volume will result in the files on the destination being decompressed.
4. Either disable compression for that folder or copy to an uncompressed volume.
5. Yes, just deselect the compression check on the properties page.
6. Compression/decompression happens on the fly. There's nothing you need to do.

However, the compression isn't going to give you massive amounts of space as most files only compress by no more than 20% (80% original size) or so. Greatest compression comes with text files and such.

Now, keep in mind that selecting to compress/decompress a volume/directory/file will immediately start the compression process. On an entire volume this can take considerable time. You can still use your system but it may be laggy during the process. You also want to ensure that, if this is the system disk, you do NOT compress the root directory or you will render your system unbootable.

Thank you for your answers. I just want to confirm that I understand your answer correctly regarding question 5. Are you saying yes that if I disabled the File and Folder Compression option on the hard drive, all of the files and folders already within the hard drive would automatically uncompress?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Yes, compression/decompression starts immediately.

 

[MasterYoda327]

Thanks for your help.