Summary: Learn how to use Windows PowerShell to easily create a zip archive.
How can I use Windows PowerShell to create a zip archive of a folder on my system?
Use Get-ChildItem from PSCX to copy the files, and pipe the output to the Write-Zip cmdlet:
Get-Childitem c:\fso -Recurse | Write-Zip -IncludeEmptyDirectories -OutputPath C:\fso_bu\fso.zip
Note: I have written several blog posts about the Windows PowerShell Community Extension Project.
For more information about obtaining the PSCX module, see these Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts.