I know he's done with his install but to reiterate what others have said and for anyone else who's wondering...

You should use a compressor for the stock strut/spring to take it apart... yes you have to take it apart to get the pieces that you will reuse(i.e. spring collar, strut boot/dust cover, etc.) unless you have new parts to replace them

You can take apart the stock damper assembly(strut/spring) while it is still in the car without a compressor though by placing a jack under the knuckle/spindle... jack it up a bit to compress it.... let off the nut on the struts piston shaft... then slowly let the jack down... voila... unbolt everything else... disassemble your damper and save the collar and boot for your new damper assembly

The new strut and spring can be compressed by hand if it needs to be compressed at all to reassemble it with the collar and boot from the old stuff... most of the time the new springs since they are lowered don't really need to be compressed to get the collar and nut over the struts piston shaft.:thumbup: