Is It Safe To Compress Everything On My Computer?

[SlyFly]

Since compressing files saves disk space, would it be safe to compress everything on my computer? Will programs work still?

 

[Cromewell]

Using NTFS compression? Yes it's safe and everything will still work but using compressed files takes longer because they have to be decompressed before they can be used.

 

[nyhk]

there might be some critical system files that won't be happy. The boot files for example must not be compressed

 

[Geoff]

It's fine to do, and any file that can not be compressed will tell you. The only downside is that it will lower performance of the hard drive, especially loading times.

 

[nyhk]

any file, as in any file? an override of what i said?

 

[OvenMaster]

From what I understand, it's not smart to compress your Windows file folder, or often-used apps in Program Files. Slows your machine way down, and there is the possibility that repeated compressing and decompressing can introduce bit errors. Compressing is best done on archive type stuff.
Tom

 

[blue21]

And if you fill your drive with compressed files, you can run into an error saying that the computer doesn't have room to uncompress the file.

 

[dznutz]

i've used this before. it slows down the computer. i'd rather buy another hd