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Freeware Menu >> Compression tools (zip/unzip etc)


7-Zip File Manager version 4.32

The 7-zip format enables a higher level of compression than standard zip files and most other file compression formats.
How much more 7-zip is able to compress an archive, than a standard zip file, depends on the content of the archive and what program creates the zip file, but you can expect at least a 5-10% reduction in file size when using 7-zip.

In addition to its own format, 7-zip can create and unpack zip, gzip, bzip2 and tar formats.
It can also unpack rar, cab, arj, lzh, chm, z, cpio, rpm and deb.

7-zip can create, very easy to use self extracting archives in its own format and can password protect both 7-zip and zip files.

The program is very simple to use and the help file is adequate. It is possible to choose higher levels of 7-zip compression than the normal setting, but this does increase the time needed to compress the file and the difference in finished size can be very small, the "ultra" setting increases packing time enormously.

While 7-zip provides possibly the best level of archive compression currently available, distributing your compressed file can cause some problems, as less experienced computer users may not know what to do with the 7-zip file.
In addition, I have noticed that other archiving programs can have trouble unpacking 7-zip files that have been created using compression levels higher than "normal".
For this reason it is a good idea to create self extracting 7-zip files, if you intend to distribute them to other users.

Freeware -- Download size 820k -- Win 98/ME/NT/2000/XP

http://www.7-zip.org/

TUGZip version 3.4.

A very well featured compression program, that allows you to create and unpack 7-zip, bh, bz2, cab, jar, lha (lzh), sqx, tar, tgz, yz1 and zip archives.
It also has unpacking support for: a, ace, arc, arj, cpio, deb, gca, gz, imp, lib, rar, rpm, tbz, taz and zoo archives.
It also supports bin, c2d, img, iso and nrg disc-images.
TUGZip can create self-extracting archives and encrypted archives, it can repair damaged archives and convert an archive to a different format.

Despite being very well featured and configurable, TUGZip is also very easy to use, with an excellent help file and good mouse over descriptions for buttons etc, this makes it suitable for both beginners and more experienced users.
The program seems very stable and reliable and I keep it on my hard drive for the occasional archiving job, that needs more than the standard XP zipping facility.

Freeware -- Download size 3.82Mb

http://www.tugzip.com/

ExtractNow v.4.1.8.0

ExtractNow is a simple solution for those times when you download a file and it has been compressed in a format other than zip.
ExtractNow will open all the popular formats (zip, rar, iso, bin, img, ima, imz, 7-zip, ace, jar, gz, lzh, lha, sit), with the exception of cab and sqx files.

The program is much simpler to use than most compression programs, you can either drag and drop the file onto the program window and press "Extract", or from the program settings you can associate the file type with ExtractNow and open it from your right click menu.

There is no help file provided with the program, but it is very simple to use and the settings are fairly obvious, there is a fuller explanation of the various settings on the web site, so you may want to save the page.

The current version works with XP, but I'm not sure if it works with 98/ME, but there is an older version available on the site that does work with 98/ME.

Freeware -- Download size 1Mb.

Note: While the program opened standard formats with no problems, it did have problems with files saved with more exotic settings, such as "ultra" compression.

http://www.extractnow.com/

Fil Zip by Phillipp Engel.

This is a very good zipping program, it has support for most common compression types and has repair, encryption and disk spanning features, it is very easy to configure and can be operated using just the right click menu if you wish.
Personally I like it because I can set the right click menu exactly how I want it, and also set the default zip folders, it will also handle the odd .lzh etc file I come across and it can convert some archive types to others.

Download size 1.4Mb

http://www.filzip.com

ZipInstaller v1.21

ZipInstaller enables you to easily install a zip file that hasn't got an installer, to your hard drive.
You just point it at the zip file, choose your install location and what shortcuts you would like and the program is installed, along with an uninstaller for easy removal.
Program information (if available) will be listed in Windows add/remove section.
Shortcuts are automatically added for a variety of common help and read me files.
I find this very useful for installing Game Maker games that I decide to keep, as they almost always come as zip files. It is much easier than manually creating folders and shortcuts.

Freeware -- Download size 68k -- Win 9x , NT, 2000, XP


http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/zipinst.html

Rob Goldfish Web Site