Encryption

Encryption is only available in versions of ZipIt registered to users in the United States, due to the United States export law. You must register your copy of ZipIt to get encryption features; see the section entitled “Registration,” above, for details. With encryption, you can protect a file so that it will be impossible to unzip without the proper password.

Encrypting a file. First, add the file to a zip window, if the file is not already there, by choosing “Add…” from the Zip menu. Next, select the file that you want to encrypt. You can encrypt files that have already been saved in the zip archive if you wish. Choose “Set Password…” from the Zip menu. (This choice will only be available on versions of ZipIt that have encryption enabled.) Type in the password you want to use, then re-type your password in the second field. Click OK, and a lock icon will appear next to the file. That means that the entry will be encrypted as soon as you save the zip archive.

Unzipping and decrypting a file. If you try to extract an encrypted file, ZipIt will ask you for the password to use when decrypting it. Simply type in the correct password, and ZipIt will be able to unzip the file. ZipIt will remember the password until you close the zip archive, so if you need to unzip it again you do not need to re-enter the password. You may also tell ZipIt the password in advance by selecting the encrypted files and choosing “Set Password…” from the Zip menu. If more than one encrypted file in a zip archive is encrypted with the same password, simply select all the files that use that password, choose “Set Password…” and type the password. This prevents you from having to enter the same password repeatedly.

Decrypting a file without unzipping it. You can remove the password from a zip entry while keeping it in the zip archive. After doing this, and saving the zip archive, a password will no longer be needed to unzip the entry. Select the entry that you want to decrypt (it must have a lock icon next to it, indicating that it is encrypted) and choose “Remove Password…” from the Zip menu. Unless the files that you chose were not yet saved, you will be prompted for the password to the entries. Enter the password, and the lock icon will change to an open lock. This open lock icon signifies that ZipIt will decrypt the entry as soon as you save the zip archive. Note: ZipIt does not check to see if your password is correct when you enter it. If you type the wrong password, ZipIt will not be able to decrypt the file and, after the zip archive is saved, the entry will remain encrypted.