By default Windows 10 is using the fastest compression algorithm. With the command compact.exe (C:\Windows\System32\compact.exe) other compression algorithms can be stated (for example the most compact algorithm: compact.exe <folder> /C /EXE LZX), but instead of using the command-line, CompactGUI can be used for this. After launching it and selecting of a folder it looks like this: It also provides a Explorer context menu (right-click on any folder to compress/uncompress the files inside it), drap&drop functionality and gives visual feedback. Website Requirement: Windows 10, Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7
CompactGUI use Windows’ Compact tool with a GUI https://www.ghacks.net/2017/10/12/compactgui-use-windows-compact-tool-with-a-gui/
An excellent tool which is currently being updated as often as several times a day. I gained around 50GB of space on my C drive, by compressing both Program Files folders and a few other big folders.
CompactGUI v2.5 Released (February 18, 2018) Download Spoiler: Changes / Fixes v2.5 Changes Major Backend Rework Individually calls compact.exe per file Removed dependency on compact.exe MUI tables for parsing. (Significantly slower, but allows the next point to exist) Implemented workaround for the Windows bug that results in inflated savings for files >4GB. Added a check to make sure files outside of the working directory cannot be compressed. Skip Files that are Poorly Compressed - Implemented ability to skip poorly-compressable files (configurable from menu) - Mitigates the effects of the above changes Added Wiki Submission Form - Simplifies the submission of results to Google Forms. Many UI tweaks and changes Fixes: Multiple backend usability and performance changes. Made output console always visible, tweaked refresh timings to negate performance impact.
You're welcome CompactGUI will compress installed Programs and save Disk Space on Windows 10 February 14, 2018 http://www.thewindowsclub.com/compactgui-compress-installed-programs
It's not, unless you think things like "AppData\Local\Fateful_Productions\CompactGUI.exe_Url_u1p4hhqlhdjhg3.............." are acceptable for a portable program.
I didn't notice that folder when I looked in AppData. But in my case it doesn't worry me, as wherever possible I avoid portable software anyway.
It does a lot more then that, go check with Wireshark. Where do you think it gets all of its compression data from?
CompactGUI 3.0.0 Beta 1 Released (November 6, 2022) Download (GitHub - Releases) Code: Important! Because this application now uses .NET 6, you have two choices of downloads: https://github.com/IridiumIO/CompactGUI/releases/download/v3.0.0-beta.1/CompactGUI.exe 2.71 MB: If you don't have the .NET 6 runtime installed when you try to run this, it will prompt you to download it from Microsoft https://github.com/IridiumIO/CompactGUI/releases/download/v3.0.0-beta.1/CompactGUI-Integrated.zip 152 MB: Includes all libraries required to run it completely standalone, however it's nearly 50x the size. I do recommend installing the .NET 6 runtime instead (which is itself only a 50MB download). Spoiler: Changes 3.0.0 Beta 1 Changes Skip Poorly Compressed Filetypes Has been enabled - selecting these options will now actually skip filetypes. You cannot submit results if you have these options enabled (that's to ensure that future results aren't compromised). For the User Submitted Filetypes option, in future this will be adjusted to only skip files with a certain confidence level (e.g. if only 1 person says it should be skipped that's not good enough, but if 40 do then it can be skipped) In theory, compression should be at least equal or only slightly worse than without skipping filetypes, and the speed should be faster (in some cases much faster). Please submit an issue if the compression is much worse for a particular game/folder Added Notifications - shows a Toast notification when compression is completed (this can be enabled/disabled in the settings) Added Drag-and-Drop - Folders can now be dragged into CompactGUI to compress them. One folder at a time only. Updated Games Database - ~7400 new submissions since the last version (these are generally updated in the background but I haven't pushed a new database since July) Bug Fixes Safely blocks System Windows directory from being selected without affecting other root folders that contain Windows #281 Fixed crash when a watched folder is deleted or renamed and CompactGUI cannot locate it - deleted/renamed folders are now automatically removed from the watchlist Added checks to prevent non-NTFS folders from being compressed. #305 Known issues Watched folders will not play nice if you added a folder to the watchlist while in admin mode, and then went back to normal mode afterwards. It will still technically work, but the analysis will not be accurate (as it will skip over files it doesn't have permission to check) Clicking the Analyse button to check all the watched folders won't show any visual indication that it's doing anything until it is finished. It is actually working, but you just can't see anything. Feel free to spam click the button if it makes you feel better. The fading in/out bottom bar is a bit glitchy. The right-click context menu no longer works and gives an error that CompactGUI is already running, if you're using the Watched list. CompactGUI