Opening Distribution Zip Files

All files sent via distributions or directly from the Support Team are password protected, and this cannot be disabled. PDF files are password protected through the built in functionality of PDF's, however all non PDF files (Excel, CSV, .txt) do not have this ability.Instead they are grouped into a Zip file which is both encrypted and password protected, and as a result will require an encryption program such as WinZip, 7-Zip or WinRar to decrypt before the files can be viewed. For the below example we will be using WinZip.

Before you can decrypt and open the files you receive from a distribution you will need to save the file to your computer. You will not be able to do this from within an email client such as Outlook.

Once the files are saved to your local machine, right click and select Open with WinZip.

The Zip folder should open in WinZip allowing you to see the files contained within. You will not be able to open the files at this stage, and attempting to do so will only result in Windows displaying an error message.

Select the Extract button and enter in the required password. If this Zip folder is from a DataPay distribution then this will use your DataPay login password. If the file has been sent to you manually by the Support Team then they will have entered in a random password. You will need to call the Support Team to retrieve the password. They will not send this to you via email for security reasons.

Once the files have been decrypted they will be placed in a regular un-zipped folder at a location of your choice, at which point you will be able to open and edit the files.

Please note that if you are having issues with opening Zip files and the above steps do not work you may need to contact your internal IT team. Datacom is unable to send sensitive information over email without this being encrypted / password protected.