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  3. Looking for a new (free) compression utility...

Looking for a new (free) compression utility...

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  • C CastorTiu

    I'd like to know the reason, I never had any trouble at all. Not intrusive and really stable and very practical from the context menus.

    -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

    D Offline
    D Offline
    Dan Neely
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    For basic use it's UI is clunkier than winzip. I only use winrar when I need the extra features or formats that winzip doesn't support.

    -- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • B BRShroyer

      I've been using WinAce 2.6, but have recently decided to drop it because the GUI is a little bland and I'm tired of it, plus their new marketing scheme involves adware. The biggest thing I liked about it that I can right-click on a file, drag it to a folder and the context menu allows you to extract to the folder or create a new folder using the filename as the name of the folder. What do you use for compressing files?

      Brad The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

      A Offline
      A Offline
      Aaron VanWieren
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      Definately WinRar. If you do purchase it it is cheap. Great features and has never let me down.

      _____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe

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      • B BRShroyer

        I've been using WinAce 2.6, but have recently decided to drop it because the GUI is a little bland and I'm tired of it, plus their new marketing scheme involves adware. The biggest thing I liked about it that I can right-click on a file, drag it to a folder and the context menu allows you to extract to the folder or create a new folder using the filename as the name of the folder. What do you use for compressing files?

        Brad The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

        R Offline
        R Offline
        Ravi Bhavnani
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        I'm a big fan of WinZip 8.1. /ravi

        This is your brain on Celcius Home | Music | Articles | Freeware | Trips ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • B BRShroyer

          I've been using WinAce 2.6, but have recently decided to drop it because the GUI is a little bland and I'm tired of it, plus their new marketing scheme involves adware. The biggest thing I liked about it that I can right-click on a file, drag it to a folder and the context menu allows you to extract to the folder or create a new folder using the filename as the name of the folder. What do you use for compressing files?

          Brad The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

          A Offline
          A Offline
          Abu Mami
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          7-zip all the way. I deleted all the others.

          1 Reply Last reply
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          • P peterchen

            I HATE IT


            Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
            We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
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            C Offline
            C Offline
            code frog 0
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto! Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto! Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto! Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto! Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto! Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto! Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!Ditto!

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            • C CastorTiu

              I'd like to know the reason, I never had any trouble at all. Not intrusive and really stable and very practical from the context menus.

              -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

              C Offline
              C Offline
              code frog 0
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              After I found 7-zip I haven't looked back. It's just totally perfect for my needs and WinRAR always bugged me. Even after I bought a license to it. It bugs me.:laugh:

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              • C code frog 0

                After I found 7-zip I haven't looked back. It's just totally perfect for my needs and WinRAR always bugged me. Even after I bought a license to it. It bugs me.:laugh:

                C Offline
                C Offline
                CastorTiu
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                I never tried, I'll give a try.

                -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                C 1 Reply Last reply
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                • C CastorTiu

                  I never tried, I'll give a try.

                  -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  code frog 0
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  It has unbelievable compression compared to anything else out there. I can compress with WinZip and get 60% better with 7-zip. I added a link to my OP to.

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                  • C code frog 0

                    It has unbelievable compression compared to anything else out there. I can compress with WinZip and get 60% better with 7-zip. I added a link to my OP to.

                    C Offline
                    C Offline
                    CastorTiu
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    To compare compression always also I look in compression/time and not just in the final file size, using a big dictionary, solid file or specialized algorithms will give you better compression but may be will take time to do it. I'll compare a big file compressed with 7-zip and winrar.

                    -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • C CastorTiu

                      To compare compression always also I look in compression/time and not just in the final file size, using a big dictionary, solid file or specialized algorithms will give you better compression but may be will take time to do it. I'll compare a big file compressed with 7-zip and winrar.

                      -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      code frog 0
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      You are absolutely correct. If you use 7-zip's maximum compression on a large file make sure you have *WADS* of memory and a fast disc drive. I'm going to score you not just one point for that observation but 5 because that's always a consideration for me when I use the "maximum" compression of 7-zip.

                      C 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • C code frog 0

                        It has unbelievable compression compared to anything else out there. I can compress with WinZip and get 60% better with 7-zip. I added a link to my OP to.

                        D Offline
                        D Offline
                        Dan Neely
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        .zip's a 25yo algorithm and has lagged badly in compression rate for a long time. Rar's been better than zip for years, bz2 and ace have a good edge on rar, 7zip got it's 15 minutes of fame by getting a good margin over bz2. Except as self extractors though, all the formats except zip have suffered from the same problem though, lack of decompresser support to the average luser. Unless your recipient is a geek, w4r3z d00d, or an aggressive user of no-cd patches the odds are the only decompresser they have is the one in windows which doesn't read any format more modern than zip. nor is the luser interested in, or capable of downloading the 3rd party tool. They'll just use someone else's product instead of yours because the brandX zip just works.

                        -- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

                        C 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • B BRShroyer

                          I've been using WinAce 2.6, but have recently decided to drop it because the GUI is a little bland and I'm tired of it, plus their new marketing scheme involves adware. The biggest thing I liked about it that I can right-click on a file, drag it to a folder and the context menu allows you to extract to the folder or create a new folder using the filename as the name of the folder. What do you use for compressing files?

                          Brad The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

                          E Offline
                          E Offline
                          ednrgc
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          WinRAR.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • D Dan Neely

                            .zip's a 25yo algorithm and has lagged badly in compression rate for a long time. Rar's been better than zip for years, bz2 and ace have a good edge on rar, 7zip got it's 15 minutes of fame by getting a good margin over bz2. Except as self extractors though, all the formats except zip have suffered from the same problem though, lack of decompresser support to the average luser. Unless your recipient is a geek, w4r3z d00d, or an aggressive user of no-cd patches the odds are the only decompresser they have is the one in windows which doesn't read any format more modern than zip. nor is the luser interested in, or capable of downloading the 3rd party tool. They'll just use someone else's product instead of yours because the brandX zip just works.

                            -- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

                            C Offline
                            C Offline
                            code frog 0
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            Yeah, I only use 7-zip for my stuff. When dealing with the rest of the world I used plain old "nothing fancy" zip and it's fine.

                            D 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • C code frog 0

                              You are absolutely correct. If you use 7-zip's maximum compression on a large file make sure you have *WADS* of memory and a fast disc drive. I'm going to score you not just one point for that observation but 5 because that's always a consideration for me when I use the "maximum" compression of 7-zip.

                              C Offline
                              C Offline
                              CastorTiu
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              Source 253.969Kb PST file (Outlook DB) 7-Zip | .7z | Normal Compression | 4MB dictionary | 138 sec | 174.178Kb | 58MB RAM used WinRAR | .rar | Normal Compression | 4MB dictionary | 170 sec | 175.257Kb | 37MB RAM used 7-Zip | .7z | Ultra Compression | 4MB dictionary | 144 sec | 174.084Kb | 60MB RAM used WinRAR | .rar | Best Compression | 4MB dictionary | 172 sec | 175.046Kb | 38MB RAM used 7-Zip | .7z | Ultra Compression | 64MB dictionary | 262 sec | 165.791Kb | 680MB RAM used Looks like 7-Zip has better compression size and time after all, good to know.

                              -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                              C J 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • C CastorTiu

                                Source 253.969Kb PST file (Outlook DB) 7-Zip | .7z | Normal Compression | 4MB dictionary | 138 sec | 174.178Kb | 58MB RAM used WinRAR | .rar | Normal Compression | 4MB dictionary | 170 sec | 175.257Kb | 37MB RAM used 7-Zip | .7z | Ultra Compression | 4MB dictionary | 144 sec | 174.084Kb | 60MB RAM used WinRAR | .rar | Best Compression | 4MB dictionary | 172 sec | 175.046Kb | 38MB RAM used 7-Zip | .7z | Ultra Compression | 64MB dictionary | 262 sec | 165.791Kb | 680MB RAM used Looks like 7-Zip has better compression size and time after all, good to know.

                                -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                                C Offline
                                C Offline
                                code frog 0
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                That's pretty cool.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • B BRShroyer

                                  I've been using WinAce 2.6, but have recently decided to drop it because the GUI is a little bland and I'm tired of it, plus their new marketing scheme involves adware. The biggest thing I liked about it that I can right-click on a file, drag it to a folder and the context menu allows you to extract to the folder or create a new folder using the filename as the name of the folder. What do you use for compressing files?

                                  Brad The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

                                  B Offline
                                  B Offline
                                  Bassam Abdul Baki
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  ZipGenius. Free and handles almost all known compression types.


                                  "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." - Sir Walter Scott Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn - BM

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                                  • C CastorTiu

                                    I'd like to know the reason, I never had any trouble at all. Not intrusive and really stable and very practical from the context menus.

                                    -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    peterchen
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #25

                                    I can't really pin it down - maybe just thinking about it makes me so irrationale that there's no useful answer to be gotten. The UI looks nice but there are ever so slight stumbling blocks that make it not as smooth as WinZip is (maybe if one gets used to it it is similar the other way round). It was always a format rearely supported by other "general" archivers, for one reason or another. This was really a problem when web access was scarce, and still now I hate to download just another software because someone sends me an archive in a format not widely supported. The home page looks a bit homegrown, and google:WinRAR spits out obvious traffic traps. It just feels - sorry - unprofessional.


                                    Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
                                    We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
                                    Linkify!|Fold With Us!

                                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • P peterchen

                                      I can't really pin it down - maybe just thinking about it makes me so irrationale that there's no useful answer to be gotten. The UI looks nice but there are ever so slight stumbling blocks that make it not as smooth as WinZip is (maybe if one gets used to it it is similar the other way round). It was always a format rearely supported by other "general" archivers, for one reason or another. This was really a problem when web access was scarce, and still now I hate to download just another software because someone sends me an archive in a format not widely supported. The home page looks a bit homegrown, and google:WinRAR spits out obvious traffic traps. It just feels - sorry - unprofessional.


                                      Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
                                      We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
                                      Linkify!|Fold With Us!

                                      C Offline
                                      C Offline
                                      CastorTiu
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #26

                                      I know what you mean, I think is something with the word "rar" :) that makes feel the user "this is not good". On DOS times I used to use PKArc and then PKZip came up, immediately I adopted PKZip, some time later a friend of mine told me about RAR and tried to convince me to use it because it had better compression rate but for “some unknown reason” I did not switch for 2 or 3 years, was a feeling about RAR that didn't like. When WinRAR 3 (3 I think was) came out it had a HUGE compression/speed difference against WinZIP (6 I think). So I started to use from then, after that I loved it. Now WinZip 10/11 is more advance, but really you cannot use it anymore unless you really get a license and also it is already too late, WinZip is not on my list of choices anymore. Today in Internet when you get a program (usually big) is very often it is .RAR file, I guess may be 7-zip will become more popular and we will start to see it more often on Internet.

                                      -- If you think the chess rules are not fair, first beat Anand, Kasparov and Karpov then you can change them. Moral is, don't question the work of others if you don't know the reason why they did it.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • C code frog 0

                                        Yeah, I only use 7-zip for my stuff. When dealing with the rest of the world I used plain old "nothing fancy" zip and it's fine.

                                        D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        Dan Neely
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #27

                                        For personal stuff I almost never compress any more. Disk space is dirt cheap, and noncompressed backups allow for much easier data recovery if anything does go wrong with the media. One of my friends backed all his data into a single multiCD zip and after a HD crash discovered that a dead CD in the middle rendered all of it useless.

                                        -- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • B BRShroyer

                                          I've been using WinAce 2.6, but have recently decided to drop it because the GUI is a little bland and I'm tired of it, plus their new marketing scheme involves adware. The biggest thing I liked about it that I can right-click on a file, drag it to a folder and the context menu allows you to extract to the folder or create a new folder using the filename as the name of the folder. What do you use for compressing files?

                                          Brad The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

                                          C Offline
                                          C Offline
                                          CarlG
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #28

                                          I'd cast my vote on IZArc. It handles EVERYTHING! http://www.izarc.org/ Completely freeware. No Ads, Nags or anything. Regards Carl

                                          J 1 Reply Last reply
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