Dear PropellerHeads: Sometimes I need to send large files to my co-workers, but my email provider's limit on attachment size makes this impossible. Can you help?

A: Of course we can, but be honest: is this really work-related or are you just sending home videos of your cat? Because that's what Youtube is for. Email is for sending people the link to your cat video. So how do we get our important work files (wink, wink) to our fellow PropellerHeads? How do we get around the 5 or 10 MB limits of most inter-office mail services? Here are some approaches to try:

Zip it up! Zip programs like WinZip (winzip.com), PKZip (pkzip.com), and the free 7-Zip (7-zip.org) specialize in shrinking fat files down to more manageable sizes. They also let you combine multiple files into one, making for easier transport, and give you the option of password-protecting the contents. They work great for text-based file formats, but can't shrink most images, videos, or audio files since those are usually already compressed.

Split it up! Remember 3.5-inch floppy disks? Yeah? Then you're old! We are too, and that's why we know about FileSplitter (filesplitter.org) and HJSplit (hjsplit.org), both free programs created to crack big files into pieces small enough to fit on floppy disks, CDs, or DVDs. They can also split voluminous videos (or other large files) into chunks the size of your choosing. Your email recipient can use the same software to join the pieces back together again (assuming they're not all the king's horses or all the king's men).

Mix it up! Who says you have to use your work mail account just because you're at work? If the answer isn't "my manager, and she likes to fire people," consider a Web-based mail provider like Hotmail (hotmail.com), Yahoo! Mail (mail.yahoo.com), or Google Mail (gmail.com), which support attachments up to 25 MB. Just remember that your email recipient might have limits on how big a file they can receive through their service too, so for insanely huge files another approach might work better.

Send it up! Several websites were designed specifically to address your problem (well, this one at least). Upload your files to their servers and they give you a link to send to your recipient, or they send it for you. We've had success with Filemail.comand MediaFire.com, but see our blog entry at http://bit.ly/33BiDafor several more.

Some of these services are free, but each one has different limits on file size, how long they'll store your file, and how many uploads or downloads are included. Worried about uploading sensitive information to a third-party website? Use a zip program or Gnu Privacy Guard (gpg4win.org) to encrypt the files.

Bump it up! Your heart rate, that is. If your email recipients are in the same office building, tackle this problem old-school: Burn your files to a CD or DVD and just walk them over to another cubicle. Bonus! You end up with an archive you can play back for posterity. Toonces will get a kick out of her kitten videos when she's older. I mean, um, "the boss will appreciate you making back-ups of those important files."

When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to questions@askthepropellerheads.com or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.