NTFS | Zip |
Think of NTFS compression as a feature of the hard drive itself. | Zip technology works on any file, regardless of where it is stored. |
The minute you move an NTFS-compressed file off an NTFS drive (by, say, sending a file as an email attachment), the file is uncompressed, automatically, and you can’t do anything about it: You’ll send a big, uncompressed file. | You can move a compressed (zipped) folder (it’s a zip file, with a .zip filename extension) anywhere, and it stays compressed. If you send a zip file as an email attachment, it goes over the Internet as a compressed file. The person who receives the file can view it directly in Windows or use a product such as WinZip to see it. |
Lots of overhead is associated with NTFS compression. Windows must compress and decompress those files on the fly, and that sucks up processing power. | Very little overhead is associated with zip files. Many programs (for example, antivirus programs) read zip files directly. |
NTFS compression is helpful if you’re running out of room on an NTFS-formatted drive. | Compressed (zipped) folders (that is to say, zip files) are in a near-universal form that can be used just about anywhere. |
You must be using an administrator account to use NTFS compression. | You can create, copy, or move zip files just like any other files, with the same security restrictions. |
You can use NTFS compression on entire drives, folders, or single files. They cannot be password protected. | You can zip files, folders, or (rarely) drives, and they can be password protected. |