should i check box for "compress drive to save disk space"?

Question

id guess that there must be pros and cons or it would be automatic

Answer 1

It will make your files smaller, but it will make opening, editing, saving, and copying files a lot slower. You should only use that option if you are seriously running low on disk space. Usually it's not worth the waiting that you'll have to endure.

Answer 2

Only do this if you are seriously running low on hard disk space and can't afford to buy another one. It does make more room, but it makes opening, saving, and copying, moving, all that much difficult. It also causes you to not always know when one file is compressed and another is, unless you make sure to turn on the option in folder options to have these types of files shown in a different color.

There are also other cons, such as when you open a file, it is first moved to a temporary location, and when you save, you may lose your file, as it is saved to that temp location and not back to the original folder. You would need to first move it, then open it, then save it back to where you moved it, then drag it back to original location.