Microsoft DOS compact command
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About compact
Availability
Syntax
Examples
About compact
Compact is a MS-DOS command used to compress, uncompress, and view compressed files.
Availability
The compact.exe command is an external command and is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Syntax
Displays or alters the compression of files on NTFS partitions.
COMPACT [/C | /U] [/S[:dir]] [/A] [/I] [/F] [/Q] [filename [...]]
| /C |
Compresses the specified files. Directories will be marked so that files added afterward will be compressed. |
| /U |
Uncompresses the specified files. Directories will be marked so that files added afterward will not be compressed. |
| /S |
Performs the specified operation on files in the given directory and all subdirectories. Default "dir" is the current directory. |
| /A |
Displays files with the hidden or system attributes. These files are omitted by default. |
| /I |
Continues performing the specified operation even after errors have occurred. By default, COMPACT stops when an error is encountered. |
| /F |
Forces the compress operation on all specified files, even those that are already compressed. Already-compressed files are skipped by default. |
| /Q |
Reports only the most essential information. |
| filename |
Specifies a pattern, file, or directory. |
Used without parameters, COMPACT displays the compression state of the current directory and any files it contains. You may use multiple filenames and wildcards. You must put spaces between multiple parameters.
Examples
compact
Display all the files in the current directory and their compact status.
compact file.txt
Display the compact status of the file file.txt
compact file.txt /C
Compacts the file.txt file. |
