Abstract: A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program code for compressing a file in a computer. An amount of memory available for use in the computer is determined. A size of the file is determined. A chunk size is determined based on the size of the file and the amount of memory available for use. A set of chunks are created by obtaining a chunk of chunk size from the file, and truncating the file an amount equal to the chunk size, until the file is completely truncated. A new file containing compressed chunks is created by repeatedly selecting a chunk from the set of chunks, compressing the chunk to form a compressed chunk, writing the compressed chunk to the new file, and deleting the chunk from the set of chunks, until each chunk in the set of chunks is deleted. The new file containing the compressed chunks is saved.