Although rare, but still, some computer system users are faced with files that have a GZ extension (sometimes a TGZ). The question immediately arises: "How to open them?" I don’t want to upset the reader using the Windows-system for work, but in this environment the expediency of opening files of this type is reduced to absolute zero. And that's why.
What is a GZ extension?
The files with the GZ extension were first introduced to the world in 1993, after the release of a utility for packing and unpacking data called GNU Zip, or GZip for short. Actually, according to the combination of the first letters, the files processed by this program with the use of compression got their extension.
Probably, many have already realized that the application itself belongs to the category of so-called archivers, and the files created with its help are ordinary archives. But there is one caveat. The fact is that such archives are used exclusively in UNIX-like systems (for example, Linux), and the utility itself is built by default into the operating system software environment. What is most interesting, this archiver is present not only in Linux OS, but also in Mac OS X "OSes".
Of course, you can open files with a GZ extension in Windows (this will be discussed a bit later), but here a logical question arises: is it worth it? Indeed, in most cases decompressed data will still not be able to be read on Windows systems, although there are versions of the program for Windows as well.
File Compression and Unpacking Algorithm
Many might think that the compression and decompression program (GZip archiver) works in exactly the same way as the well-known WinZIP package. Nothing like this. Initially, the program was tested on the basis of its own algorithm called DEFLATE, which was originally based on a combination of two types of encodings - Huffman and LZ77.
As already clear, when compressing the required information, the suffix gz is added to the main name. However, this applies only to single files. The fact is that the program initially does not know how to work with several files, say, like the WinZIP or WinRAR application. In other words, it is simply not possible to pack two or more data packets into one archive.
That is why both in compression and in data decompression, the utility uses the additional TAR application. As a result, when creating archives, the output is not a file with the GZ extension, but an object with a double extension in the abbreviated version of TGZ (in some cases .tar.gz). Simply put, the TAR utility first compresses several files into one, after which it is processed by the GZip application. And such a combination of actions, to put it mildly, is very inconvenient.
The same goes for data unpacking. First, the main archive file is decompressed, and then all other objects are extracted using the additional TAR utility.
GZ extension: how to open?
Now a few words about opening this type of data. It goes without saying that you can use the “native” GZip utility on both UNIX systems and Windows.
But since we use Windows more, we can unpack such archives using the built-in WinZIP archiver. In addition, quite effective tools include such popular packages as WinRAR, 7-Zip, E-merge WinAce, Corel WinZIP (version 16 Pro), etc.
If it is a virus
As often happens, sometimes some viruses are masked as archives of this type. As a rule, in most cases, the GZ virus replaces the extension with a similar one - GAZ, although today there are cases when malicious programs and codes penetrate the system as a file with the original extension.
By the way, it is far from a fact that antiviruses designed to work in the Windows environment will be able to identify a potential threat. That is why you should be very careful when identifying suspicious objects, and also use powerful anti-virus scanners in the form of commercial programs, rather than free utilities like Avast, which are already capable of skipping common threats under Windows.
In extreme cases, such an object can be initially (before being torn off) scanned by some portable utility like KVRT for potential threats.
Conclusion
Here, in fact, is all about what relates to archives that have a GZ extension. Probably, many users have already understood how to work with such data. But here you should immediately clarify the situation for yourself. You can open such an archive even in Windows, but why? After all, if data relating exclusively to UNIX systems were packed in it, then it will simply be impossible to work with them. As an example, you can look at the DMG image file created in the Mac OS X operating system environment. You can easily extract the contents using the same UltraISO program or something else. But then what to do with the extracted data? This is the case with the GZ format.
In principle, even if the user works with Linux or Mac, it’s easier to install the same WinRAR designed for a certain OS, and use the utility without using additional programs, as provided by the functioning of the GZip and TAR applications. As they say, saving time and effort is evident. So why create additional difficulties for yourself if you can use one package instead of two?