splitting large tar file
 

Is it possible to split a large already created tar file (a backup) into smaller tar files so that I can more easily view the contents of each?

I currently have a tar file of 1.4 GB and it's so big that my system takes forever (I have yet to be able to wait long enough) to list the files in the archive.

Also, what command do I use to retrieve a single file from within this archive?

Thanks!

to retreive a single file...

tar -xf xxx.tar fileyouwanttoget