archive (1) site containing a large number of files, possibly
acquired over time, and often publicly accessible. See
also ftp, particularly anonymous ftp.
(2) file that contains a number of related files, usu-
ally in a compressed format to reduce file size and
transmission (upload or download) time on elec-
tronic bulletin boards or download sites on the
Internet. Most software distributed as shareware (or
similar concepts) is distributed as an archive that
contains all related programs, and documentation
and possibly data files.Archived files, because of the
compression, appear to be encrypted, and therefore,
infected files inside archives may not be detected by
virus or malware scanning software. See also com-
pressed executable, self-extracting.
(3) ...