A computer program for managing and manipulating archive zip files of a computer. The program includes a system and method for opening, creating, and modifying, and extracting zip archive files. The program is fully integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer and is accessed via Explorer menus, toolbars, and/or drag and drop operations. An important feature of the program is the archive manager which may be used to open a zip file, create a new zip file, extract zip files, modify zip files, etc. The program is integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer using the shell name space extension application program interface developed by Microsoft.