Unzip too slow for transfer of many files

Question

We need to distribute lots of small jpg files to offline systems. Right now, we send it as a 7zip (or plain zip) which is 800MB (230K files) and use 7zip to unzip it. It is taking about an hour to unzip on fairly large 4 core processors.

Is there a way on windows7 (or win server 2008) to create and unpack a package of files of this size in a more reasonable time frame?

(I will entertain even far out answers such as: put this all in a single CloudDB database as binary blobs and then ship the archive to the target machine, or create a VM, or a virtual disk image - but I will need some pointers to tips on doing that sort of stuff).

Answer 1

So then here's your far out answer: ;)

The problem probably doesn't lie in computing power. The filesystem and/or harddisk are the bottleneck most likely.

For Win7 (and afaik Server2008 as well) you could use a Virtual Hard Disk instead of zipping it. Win7 has native support for VHD-files and can emulate the content as a drive or subfolder via Disk Management. So there would be no need to unzip the files.

Answer 2

I spoke to some colleagues, and they might have an easier solution. Since the size is under 4GB, and I want READ-ONLY access, I can create an ISO image, and then mount it on win7 or win2008server, using this Microsoft utility:

This utility enables users of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 to mount ISO disk image files as virtual CD-ROM drives.

Answer 3

I had the same problem, and solved it. The issue is likely the Windows Attachment Service, which subjects downloaded or attached zip files to additional scrutiny for security reasons.

To bypass this:

1. Right-click the file
2. Choose Properties
3. Check Unblock

For more info, see: Why is WinZip slow?