Downloading files from the Internet

Downloading files is not as fast as loading a file from your Harddrives, or Floppy. So how do you get a file from one computer to another faster? Compression. Make the file smaller, so that it takes less time to transfer.

What is a file that ends in .lha?
LhA is a compression and archiving program like a .ZIP for Windows programs. It can take one file or a bunch of files, and compress them, so they take up less room, and time to transfer. It stores these files in one file ending in .lha .

How do I use an LHA file?
To extract an Lha file, you need the LhA program.
Get it from Aminet (us.aminet.net/aminet/util/arc/LhA_e138.run.
This is a self-extracting archive; that means that you don't need any program to extract it.
Simply execute it as you would any other program and it will decompress for you.
Take the actual LhA program and put it in your C: directory, or wherever else you like
to keep CLI programs (but make sure it's in your DOS search path).

From then on, to extract an LhA archive...

from the Shell, type:

lha e <archive-path><archive-name> <to path> <: or \>

NOTE the to path must end in : for a drive or \ for a directory.

Can I extract LHA files on a PC, then transfer them to the Amiga?
Yes, but you will need an extracting program that can extract LHA files, and be aware that LHA files can contain other directories and many files, and may not fit on a floppy.

Is there a way to Extract files without using the shell?
There are quite a few programs that use a Graphical User Interface for LHA files and other archive programs, you will just have to download them and test them for yourself. (These will have to be extracted from the Shell). For many of them you must already have the LHA program.

Are there other compression formats?
Yes, there are many. LHA is just the most common on the Amiga.
Here is a list of others...
.TAR .GZIP .LZH .LHX .SEA .LQX .UU .ZIP .CAB .RAR .ARJ .ARC .Z .ARC .PAK .RPM .ZOO .ACE .HQX

It seems each computer Operating System chooses its dominant compression program. ZIP and CAB for DOS/WINDOWS
LHA is used on Amiga (as well as LZH and LHX), .HQX and .SEA for the Macintosh.