I don't know about *need*, but some good reasons to archive files: 1. If you have a lot of small files, packing them together will take up fewer blocks, saving space. 2. If the data is highly compressible, you may be able to save more space. 3. If you want to transfer the files to another system, it may be easier to manage that with one file. 4. If you need security, it may be easier to encrypt that single file. 4. If you want to preserve file metadata, it may be more reliable than what a file system or transfer program supports. 5. If your OS (or other app) indexes regular files, an archive might keep them from appearing "active" in your searches. a0280a48e79ea7a89e4fa45e83f16f9c116f80811e1ee76cc9da2405493c10b2