Laptop Info Today

Posts Tagged ‘RAR’

In the digital downloading world of the internet, there are quite a number of files that we download and one of the most popular files types are in .rar formats.

Contarary to this, the .zip file formats is also popular but you can still able to extract this file from your laptop from your in-built Windows file extraction wizard (that is provided you are using Windows XP or above).  You need not install WinZip (a third party software) and mind you that WinZip is neither FREE either.

WinRAR on the the other hand is not FREE ($29 for one user license) but if you’ve download a .rar file format ….. what can you do?

I received a call yesterday for a friend who is having this problem while using his laptop. Immediately, I recommend him to install 7-Zip, an open-source compression tool that is able to extract a .RAR file format.

There are numerous file compression tool out there and you have to be certain which is the one that suits you.

The 3 most popular FREE file compression softwares to date are Zip Genius, IZArc and 7-Zip. Unfortunately Zip Genius does not support .RAR file formats. Unlike the free ones mentioned, none of them is able to create a .RAR file and the only that you can do it is via WinRAR .

When it comes to compressing your notebook computer files, there’s always a debate on which is better.Zip or RAR?

Let’s look at the overall perspectives.
When it comes to compression (or should I say zipping) ……
Majority will relate this to WinZIP.

Take note : - WinZip is a software and it’s not the process of compression

Furthermore it will cost you $29.95 (basic version) or $49.95 (if you are going for the Pro version).
It is a trialware nonetheless and if you desired to use it after the evaluation period, you need to pay for it.

What about RAR then?
Much as similar to Zip, RAR is another compression file format.
However if you want to compress a file to a RAR, you need to use WinRAR another software as similar to WinZIP.

So which one is better?

Lets look at the advantages of the ZIP compression.
Zip compression is supported and can be converted by most of the compression softwares in the market. The fact that Zip is a standard format in compression, you can also use free softwares to create a Zip file. Not only that, Windows XP and Vista has an in-built Zip function for you to create and extract Zip files thus you may not need to install additional softwares to perform this function.

However if you’re going to extract a RAR file, you need compression softwares to open them.
There are softwares in the market that supports extracting RAR formats (even free softwares!) but to perform creation of a RAR file you can only do it using WinRAR.

Now let’s talk file compression sizes.
It is proven that RAR excels far better in compression than Zip.

How?
Take this example :-
I have a collection of pdf files which are needed to be compressed to a single file format.
The initial size = 5.2mB
Using Zip - the file size will be reduced to 4.6 mB
Using RAR - the file size will be reduced to 4.2 mB
To note : this is just a normal beginner’s test to compression.
The above sizes can be reduced much more further, an intermediate method and the file size can be reduced more significantly ….. especially with the RAR format.

Try out this test and tell me what you think?