Today we are talking about a great piece of program, one of those that necessarily deserve a try, which could really go on a stable basis in every Windows PC.
It is a magical program that compresses program and file folders so that it takes up less disk space.
Not only is this useful on PCs with little disk space, but it is also the perfect compression software for those who install many programs and video games on the PC, so as to gain many GB of space that you never imagined could be recovered without removing anything, without delete files and without affecting the performance of compressed programs and games.
This program is based on a compression algorithm that takes over the Compact OS function in Windows 10, which is used to compress files and folders using NTFS compression on PCs or tablets with little space.
This type of compression does not generate a separate ZIP or RAR file, but operates at the system level with the result of gaining storage space on the computer without decreasing the performance and speed of Windows.
The free CompactGUI program, for every version of Windows, is very useful because it allows you to use the Compact function at the level of individual folders to compress programs and games, thus freeing up many Giga on the disk (hard disk or SSD), without affecting their operation and without limiting performance
READ ALSO: Compress drives / files / folders to get more disk space (Windows)
To download CompactGUI (free) you have to click on CompactGUI.exe on the project page on Github .
After downloading, simply run the file to get started.
The Exe file that is downloaded can be blocked by Windows 10 for security reasons.
If the lock window appears, press on the More information line and then on the Run anyway button.
At the first start, you can choose the folder to be compressed which can be that of a program, of a game or even the folder which includes all programs and all games.
In the main interface you will find the possibility to choose between four compression algorithms, as well as other less important options.
These algorithms are:
- XPRESS4K, the fastest, with the least compression.
- XPRESS8K, the intermediate combination between compression and speed ..
- XPRESS16K, more compressed but slower.
- LZX, the algorithm that compresses more, which should not be used unless you have a high performance PC.
By default, compact.exe runs the XPRESS8K algorithm which is the most recommended.
The other options allow you to include subfolders in compression and to force action on files.
In addition, you can also include hidden and system files in compression and to shutdown / restart / suspend the computer after compression is complete.
At the top is the settings button with the shape of the gear.
From here you can see the file extensions that are not very compressed and which, by default, are excluded from compression because it is not very relevant.
In these settings you can also add the compression option to the right-click menu of folders and to hide the program by leaving it in the background.
At this point you can press the Analyze Folder button to find out how effective the compression can be and how full it is recovered and then (or even undergo) the Compress Folder button to confirm and start compression of the chosen folder to view the statistics in the box. left and the state of compression.
The program displays the current size and the estimated compressed size to give an indication of how much space is going to be saved.
Once compression is complete, you can view all the statistics and details about the compressed folder, compare the dimensions before and after compression, and see the percentage reduction in size.
In case you encounter problems, you can easily decompress the folders by returning them to their original state using the available decompression option.
CompactGUI is therefore a vital program for some computers, of great level for others, capable of recovering several gigabytes of space from game folders and those of larger programs .
For most modern computers there will be practically no loss of performance, while PCs with old hard drives may notice a fair improvement in performance and reduced loading times, as smaller files require less reading time.
READ ALSO: When to use NTFS compression on hard drives and folders
It is a magical program that compresses program and file folders so that it takes up less disk space.
Not only is this useful on PCs with little disk space, but it is also the perfect compression software for those who install many programs and video games on the PC, so as to gain many GB of space that you never imagined could be recovered without removing anything, without delete files and without affecting the performance of compressed programs and games.
This program is based on a compression algorithm that takes over the Compact OS function in Windows 10, which is used to compress files and folders using NTFS compression on PCs or tablets with little space.
This type of compression does not generate a separate ZIP or RAR file, but operates at the system level with the result of gaining storage space on the computer without decreasing the performance and speed of Windows.
The free CompactGUI program, for every version of Windows, is very useful because it allows you to use the Compact function at the level of individual folders to compress programs and games, thus freeing up many Giga on the disk (hard disk or SSD), without affecting their operation and without limiting performance
READ ALSO: Compress drives / files / folders to get more disk space (Windows)
To download CompactGUI (free) you have to click on CompactGUI.exe on the project page on Github .
After downloading, simply run the file to get started.
The Exe file that is downloaded can be blocked by Windows 10 for security reasons.
If the lock window appears, press on the More information line and then on the Run anyway button.
At the first start, you can choose the folder to be compressed which can be that of a program, of a game or even the folder which includes all programs and all games.
In the main interface you will find the possibility to choose between four compression algorithms, as well as other less important options.
These algorithms are:
- XPRESS4K, the fastest, with the least compression.
- XPRESS8K, the intermediate combination between compression and speed ..
- XPRESS16K, more compressed but slower.
- LZX, the algorithm that compresses more, which should not be used unless you have a high performance PC.
By default, compact.exe runs the XPRESS8K algorithm which is the most recommended.
The other options allow you to include subfolders in compression and to force action on files.
In addition, you can also include hidden and system files in compression and to shutdown / restart / suspend the computer after compression is complete.
At the top is the settings button with the shape of the gear.
From here you can see the file extensions that are not very compressed and which, by default, are excluded from compression because it is not very relevant.
In these settings you can also add the compression option to the right-click menu of folders and to hide the program by leaving it in the background.
At this point you can press the Analyze Folder button to find out how effective the compression can be and how full it is recovered and then (or even undergo) the Compress Folder button to confirm and start compression of the chosen folder to view the statistics in the box. left and the state of compression.
The program displays the current size and the estimated compressed size to give an indication of how much space is going to be saved.
Once compression is complete, you can view all the statistics and details about the compressed folder, compare the dimensions before and after compression, and see the percentage reduction in size.
In case you encounter problems, you can easily decompress the folders by returning them to their original state using the available decompression option.
CompactGUI is therefore a vital program for some computers, of great level for others, capable of recovering several gigabytes of space from game folders and those of larger programs .
For most modern computers there will be practically no loss of performance, while PCs with old hard drives may notice a fair improvement in performance and reduced loading times, as smaller files require less reading time.
READ ALSO: When to use NTFS compression on hard drives and folders
