Download zlib from http://zlib.net/ Unzip somewhere and follow the directions to build the library. Modify your build tooling (Makefile or clickety-pokey or whatever you are using) to include the appropriate directory containing the zlib.h header. Modify your build tooling (Makefile or clickety-pokey or whatever you are using) to include the appropriate zlib.lib/libzlib.a library in the link step. For the last two steps, I just placed copies of zlib.h and libz.a in the "standard locations" where the compiler looks for includes and libraries, then I only have to tell gcc to -lz to link with the library rather than set an include path and a library path.