Compressing avi files

[Noj]

Hi guys, first off I'll just say that I know very little about various compression techniques for video files.
That said, I need a way of compressing an avi files into a smaller format (mpeg2 or DivX?). I need to be able to do it with a shareware or freeware program, and I would prefer a loss less compression if possible. These movies are 700MB each, and they're really clogging up my hard drive.
Can anyone help me out with this?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Turkey]

.avi files are already a highly compressed lossy format (DivX/mp4)... chances are those 700MB files were once about 9GB. The only way to further compress them is to zip and rar them or tarball them, but that will give you a maximum of 2% compression and most likely 0-1% compression. Your best option is to get a CD burner and 700 MB cds.

 

[GhettoFob]

yeah 700 meg movies are probably divx compressed already, zipping them up would only net you a few extra megs if any, and would be be a greater hassle, i'd suggest getting a cd burner and putting them on cd, they're 700 megs for a reason you know