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Here is the a VB.Net code to create .zip file using open source SharpZipLib .net library:

Instructions:

• Open a New Console application
• Add a new bas module called Module1
• Download the SharpZipLibrary from ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll
• Set a reference to ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll
• Copy the following code to Module1 bas module

'You need to add a reference to the ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll assembly.
'You can download the library from http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SharpZipLib/.
'http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SharpZipLib/Download.aspx

Imports System.IO
Imports ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Zip

Module Module1

  Sub Main()
    Dim sFiles As New ArrayList
    'Add the files which needs to be added to the .zip file
    'Adding list of files to an array list
    sFiles.add("C:\temp\test1.txt")
    sFiles.add("C:\temp\test2.txt")
    sFiles.add("C:\temp\test3.txt")
    sFiles.add("C:\temp\test4.txt")
    sFiles.add("C:\temp\test5.txt")

    'Set the Password to zip files
    Dim sPass As String = "test"

    'We need to specify the parent folder of the files we are adding to zip file
    Dim sParentFolder As String = "C:\temp\"

    'Target zip file name with full path
    Dim sZipFile As String = "C:\temp\test.zip"

    'create the zip file
    If ZipFiles(sParentFolder, sZipFile, sPass, sFiles) Then
      Console.Writeline("Zip file created successfully.")
    Else
      Console.Writeline("Zip file creation failed.")
    End If
  End Sub

  Public Function ZipFiles(ByVal inputFolder As String, ByVal OutputZipFilePath As String, ByVal sPass As String, ByVal ar As ArrayList) As Boolean
    Try
      Dim fs As FileStream
      Dim buf As Byte()
      Dim zs As New ZipOutputStream(File.Create(OutputZipFilePath))
      ' create zip stream
      If sPass IsNot Nothing AndAlso sPass <> [String].Empty Then
        zs.Password = sPass
      End If
      zs.SetLevel(9)
      ' maximum compression
      Dim ze As ZipEntry
      Dim sFile As String
      For Each sFile In ar
        ' for each file, generate a zipentry
        ze = New ZipEntry(sFile.Remove(0, inputFolder.Length))
        Dim fi As New FileInfo(sFile)
        ze.DateTime = fi.LastWriteTime
        zs.PutNextEntry(ze)

        If Not sFile.EndsWith("/") Then
          ' if a file ends with '/' its a directory
          fs = File.OpenRead(sFile)
          buf = New Byte(CType(fs.Length, Integer) - 1) {}
          fs.Read(buf, 0, buf.Length)
          zs.Write(buf, 0, buf.Length)
        End If
      Next
      zs.Finish()
      zs.Close()
      Return True
    Catch ex As Exception
      'error occurred while creating the zip file
      Console.writeline(ex.message)
      Return False
    End Try
  End Function

End Module

Project Type: Console
Language: VB.Net
Tested with: VS 2010