A system for transferring a container file over a network to a remote device , the system comprising: at least one processor, the processor running a container file editor ; and memory, operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method for transferring container files, the method comprising: accessing a container file using the container file editor, the container file comprising a plurality of components (200A, 200B, ..., 200N), to extract the plurality of components from the container file; generating metadata information for the plurality of components based on a directory and header data associated with the components, wherein the metadata information for each component of the plurality of component comprises a name, size information for the component, and a fingerprint value for the data of the component; transmitting the metadata information for the plurality of components to the remote device for use in reconstructing the container file on the remote computing device; determining components from the plurality of components to transmit to the remote device; and transmitting component data items for the determined components to the remote device. at least one processor, the processor running a container file editor ; and memory, operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method for transferring container files, the method comprising: accessing a container file using the container file editor, the container file comprising a plurality of components (200A, 200B, ..., 200N), to extract the plurality of components from the container file; generating metadata information for the plurality of components based on a directory and header data associated with the components, wherein the metadata information for each component of the plurality of component comprises a name, size information for the component, and a fingerprint value for the data of the component; transmitting the metadata information for the plurality of components to the remote device for use in reconstructing the container file on the remote computing device; determining components from the plurality of components to transmit to the remote device; and transmitting component data items for the determined components to the remote device. accessing a container file using the container file editor, the container file comprising a plurality of components (200A, 200B, ..., 200N), to extract the plurality of components from the container file; generating metadata information for the plurality of components based on a directory and header data associated with the components, wherein the metadata information for each component of the plurality of component comprises a name, size information for the component, and a fingerprint value for the data of the component; transmitting the metadata information for the plurality of components to the remote device for use in reconstructing the container file on the remote computing device; determining components from the plurality of components to transmit to the remote device; and transmitting component data items for the determined components to the remote device. <EOS>