One of the first questions that arises in a person who has just installed an operating system is which of the popular and publicly available archivers to choose for working with archive files? Should you use the popular WinZip, WinRAR or look for an alternative? The selection criteria for a simple user are, as a rule, quite obvious, but hardly objective - which is easier to download, which interface is liked best, which link was opened first in search engine results.

However, the key factor when choosing is the format of the file received for unpacking.

Early versions of WinZip were unable to unpack RAR files. WinRAR, on the contrary, supported both compression formats - both RAR and ZIP. Despite the fact that in latest versions WinZip support for RAR files has been implemented, but not all users know about it. And therefore they continue to choose “multi-format” WinRAR. It is also worth noting that, starting with the XP version, reading and unpacking ZIP files possible regular means Windows operating system.

Let's try to approach the issue of choosing an archiver from the side of computer professionals and answer the question - how do archiver programs differ, not only when reading and unpacking archives, but also when creating them.

Main criteria when choosing an archiver

1. Supported Operating Systems

WinZip: OS family Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android.

WinRAR: OS of the Windows family, Mac OS X, will also be suitable for fans of Linux, FreeBSD, but is not supported by operating systems for mobile devices Apple.

2. Distribution conditions for the archiver

Both programs are distributed under a shareware license. The trial period for WinRAR is 40 days, for WinZip - 21. WinRAR for Android is distributed free of charge.

3. Command line support

Both programs also support command line operation.

As can be seen from the above, from an organizational point of view, working with WinZip and WinRAR is similar. The main differences between the programs appear when performing the main function - archiving files.

Key features of WinZip and WinRAR programs

1. The format of the generated archives is ZIP and ZIPX for WinZip, for WinRAR - ZIP and RAR. The most important difference lies not so much in the archiver programs themselves, but in the output file format. According to the results of numerous tests, the quality of compression of files in the RAR format in the maximum archiving mode is higher, but at the same time the speed of creating ZIP files exceeds RAR. WinRAR has the ability to select one of six compression levels - from maximum to simply packing files into an archive without compression, which reduces the time it takes to archive a file, increasing its final size.
2. WinRAR implements the functionality of creating self-extracting (so-called SFX archives) as well as multi-volume archives. The latter is a very useful feature if the storage medium on which the archive is transferred or another transmission channel does not allow skipping a large file. For WinZip it is also possible to create self-extracting archives, but this requires installation of the additional utility WinZip Self-Extractor, or its shortened version - the free (with a general license) utility WinZip Self-Extractor Personal Edition.
3. WinRAR has a formal file size limit of 8.59 billion gigabytes. In WinZip version 18.0, the limit has been completely removed (in previous versions it was 4 gigabytes).
4. To be able to recover data in case of archive damage, WinRAR has the ability to add additional redundant data to it.
5. WinZip uses special algorithms to archive audio files.

It is also worth mentioning that both programs support file encryption with 128 and 256-bit keys and support for file names in UNICODE.

Additional differences between WinZip and WinRAR

While WinRAR developers concentrate on file compression algorithms, WinZip has developed and implemented several useful additional functions that do not directly affect the speed and quality of archiving:

1. Support FTP protocol to place archives directly on a file server. It is possible to either download the entire file or separate files and directories inside it directly from the WinZip application.
2. Backup. Opportunity automatic creation backup copies of important documents. An archive will be created according to the schedule and with the specified parameters.
3. Recording archives on CD or DVD media. Create a copy of an archive file onto laser media without leaving the WinZip application.
4. Sending archives via e-mail. The ability to create alerts about successful or unsuccessful archiving, while the archive file can be attached to the body of the letter, or placed in the cloud, indicating only a link in the body of the letter. Using the free (with a general license) WinZip Courier utility, you can send emails manually without leaving the WinZip application immediately after the archiving process is completed. In this case, the installation mail client not required for a work machine.
5. Create PDF files. WinZip before archiving documents Microsoft Office can convert them to a PDF file with watermarks.
6. Image editor. WinZip allows you to resize the original image and add watermarks to it.
7. Publishing files to popular social networks Facebook networks, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as in the cloud Google services Drive, SkyDrive and Dropbox at the touch of a button.

conclusions

To summarize, one cannot help but note the similarity of the archivers presented in the review. For unpacking, reading and simple archiving of files by an inexperienced user, the products WinRAR and WinZip are twin brothers. But for more serious purposes, as in the case of any other software, the choice must be made based on the range of tasks performed.

If you need a high-quality archiver that provides maximum compression (with a reasonable loss in speed), the use of complex settings when archiving, or simply the creation of multi-volume or self-extracting archives, it makes sense to purchase WinRAR.

If you want to get an administrator program that will not only pack files, but also upload them to FTP or write them to disk, send them by email, publish them on popular cloud storage resources or in in social networks, will automatically create backups- WinZip will be an excellent assistant in such matters. At the same time it provides high speed document compression - WinZip is better suited for archiving large files, in the case where the time spent on this is critical.

The WinRar archiver, like WinZip, is designed to create archive copies of files in compressed form. The principles of working with the WinRar archiver are the same as with WinZip. The main difference is that WinRar allows you to create more compressed copies.

The appearance of the WinRar window is practically no different from appearance other Windows windows. It has a title line, Main menu, toolbar, window control buttons, work area and status bar.

The main menu contains basic commands for working with this program. The toolbar contains the most frequently used commands. On work area presented file system(as in Explorer or My Computer).

The main menu contains the following items:

· · File

· · Commands

· · Options

· · Help

File

· · Change Drive

· · Password

· · Select All

· · Select Group

· · Unselect Group

· · Invert Selection

· · Exit

Change Drive – change the current disk. When you select this command, the disk selection field on the toolbar becomes active.

Password –this command opens a dialog box asking you to enter a password and confirm it. If after this you create your own archive, the system will prompt you for the password you entered to unpack it. If other users extract files from your archive, those who know the password, then the system will not allow them to perform the operation of extracting files from the archive.

Select All – selection of all files located in the archiver’s work area.

Select Group – select a group of files located in the archiver work area. When you select this command, a dialog box opens asking you to enter a file mask.

File maskis a representation of a file name and extension using common characters. The two main characters used in file masks are* And ? .

* - any number of any characters.

? - any one character.

Therefore, using these signs you can represent any file. But before moving on to examples, it is necessary to note once again that The file name and extension are always written separated by a dot.

For example:

*.* - file mask, indicating all files

*.doc– file mask designating all files with the doc extension.

??. exe– all files with the extension exe and a name consisting of two characters.

You can also select a group of files in the usual way, i.e.

· · click on the file name if you need to select one file;

· · while pressing the key, click on the first and last file of the selected group of files;

· · While holding down the key, click on all selected files.

Unselect Group – deselecting a group is done in the same way as selecting a group, i.e. using a file mask.

Invert Selection – When this command is selected, all selected files become unselected, and all unselected files become selected.

Exit –exit from the archiver.

Commands

· · Add File To Archive

· · RepairArchive (Restore archive)

· · View File

· · Delete Files

· · Extract Files From Archive

· · Extract to Specified Directory ( Extract files to a specific folder)

· · Test Archived Files

· · Add Archive Comment

· · Protect Archive from Damages

· · Lock Archive

· ·

· · Show Archive Information

Add File To Archive – This command allows you to add files to the archive. To do this, you must first select the files on the archiver workspace, then call this command, which will open a dialog box for adding files to the archive, where you are prompted to enter the archive name and file compression parameters.

RepairArchive – corrects errors contained in the archive.

View File – viewing the contents of a file contained in the archive.

Delete Files - deleting one or more files from the archive, and can also be used to delete the archive itself.

Extract Files From Archive – extracting files from the archive to the current folder.

Extract to Specified Directory – When you select this command, a dialog box opens in which you select the folder in which you want to place the files extracted from the archive.

Test Archived Files – testing of archived files is carried out.

Add Archive Comment – When you call this command, a dialog box opens in which you are prompted to enter comments for your archive. After entering comments, the archiver's work area is divided into two panels. The first panel contains the archive files, and the second panel contains the comments you entered for it.

Protect Archive from Damages – This command adds additional data to the archive that will prevent it from being damaged.

Lock Archive – after this command has been selected, the archive becomes locked from making any changes to it.

Convert Archive to SFX (Convert archive to SFX format)

Show Archive Information – A dialog box opens containing all the basic information about the archive.

Options

· · General

· · Compression

· · Interface

· · Font

· · Registration

· · Save Options

Selecting archiving options

General – When you select this command, the Options dialog box opens, in which the tab is active General.

Compression -When you select this command, the Options dialog box opens, in which the tab is active Compression.

Interface – when you select this command, the Options dialog box opens, in which the tab is active Interface.

Font –selecting the font that will be used to present information in the archiver work area.

Registration – registration of user rights to own this software

WinZip archiver

Archiving files

When working with a computer, damage or loss of information on magnetic disks is sometimes possible. This may occur due to physical damage magnetic disk, destruction of information computer virus or simply due to the careless work of another user who accidentally or deliberately deletes the necessary information.

In order to avoid this, it is necessary to make archival copies of documents (for example, on floppy disks). But in most cases, creating archival copies of documents may require many floppy disks, because... documents may have big size or there may be too many necessary documents. Therefore, to create archival copies, we use special programs archiving documents. These programs allow you not only to reduce the size of documents, but also to combine groups of shared documents into one archive file, which makes it much easier to understand the archive of files.

Archive file

An archive file is a set of one or more files compressed into a single file, from which they can be extracted in their original form if necessary. The archive file contains a table of contents that allows you to find out what files are contained in the archive.

WinZip program

There are many programs designed for archiving data. One of the simplest and most common of them is WinZip. This program allows you to archive documents and extract them from the archive, view archives, and also archive in other common archive formats (this is done so that a user working with another archiver has the opportunity to extract documents stored in an archive file created in WinZip) .

Launching WinZip

To run the WinZip program you need to do the following actions:

1. On the taskbar, click the main menu button Start;

2. In the Programs menu item, select WinZip.

3. After this, a dialog box appears in which the user is warned that this program can only be used for work purposes, but not for sale, etc. If you agree with this, then you need to click the button I agree, which will allow you to work with the program.

4. After all the steps taken, you will see the program interface and can start working directly with it.

WinZip archiver interface

Just like the others Windows programs The WinZip archiver window has a title bar, a main menu, a toolbar, window control buttons, etc.

Status bar

Main menu

The WinZip main menu consists of the following items:

· File

· Actions

· Options

· Help

File

· New Archive

· Open Archive

· Favorite Zip Folders

Close Archive

Information

Create Shortcut

· Move Archive (Cut archive)

· Copy Archive

· Rename Archive

· Delete Archive

· Wizard

· Mail Archive (Send archive by email)

Exit

New archive - creation of a new archive. When you select this command, a dialog box opens. First, you must enter the name of the archive you want to create, but not the name of the file you want to compress. The dialog box looks like a standard one Windows window, so here you can select the drive and folder where you want to create the archive.

Typically, after creating an archive, you will want to add files to the archive, so make sure the Add Dialog checkbox is checked to automatically enable the Add Dialod command.

You can add files to an existing archive that you created in the same way as in the previous step. If the Add Dialog does not appear, select the Add button from the Actions menu item or click the Add Dialog button on the toolbar.

1. * *.TXT*.DOC

Add.

You can also add files to the archive by dragging them with the mouse from Explorer out the window WinZip.

Attention: When you add files to an archive, source files on the disk are deleted. If you want to automatically delete the original files on disk after adding them to the archive, select Move in the dropdown list Action (Actions).

Open Archive – opening an existing archive.

In the dialog box that appears, select the archive you want to open. This dialog box works in the same mode as the others dialog boxes opening documents in Windows.

After opening the archive, you can work with the files stored in it. Files in the archive are reflected in the work area of ​​the WinZip window. Here you can see the following information about the files:

1. – names (Name);

Types;

Original size (Size);

Compressed size (Packed);

Compression percentage (Raito);

Date added to the archive (Date);

Time of adding to the archive (Time).

2. You can sort the files stored in the archive by clicking on the header of the corresponding table column. For example, to sort files by name in alphabetical order, you need to click on the name of the corresponding column Name.

Favorite Zip Folders – opens a folder with ZIP archives. If such a folder does not exist, then it is created and all archives are placed in it.

Close Archive – closing the archive

Information – A dialog box opens with information about the archive.

Create Shortcut – place the archive shortcut on the desktop

Move Archive – move the archive to the location of your choice

Copy Archive – copy the archive to the desired location

Rename Archive– rename the archive

Delete Archive – delete archive

Wizard – a tool designed for novice WinZip users that allows you to quickly extract files from an archive. This happens in dialogue mode, i.e. The wizard asks a question, which the user answers, then the system asks a new question, etc. After going through several steps, the operation is completed.

Mail Archive – allows you to send archives to another user

Exit –exit the program.

Actions

·Add

Delete

Extract

View

· Select All

· Deselect All

· Virus scun (Check for viruses)

· Make .Exe File (Create .exe file)

Uuencode

· Test (test)

CheckOut

Install

Add –adding files to the archive

In the Add dialog box, you can select files in two ways:

3. Enter the name(s) of the file(s) you want to add to the archive. If you want to select all files of the same type, then you must use a file mask, i.e. instead of the file name, print a symbol * , then put a period and enter the extension of the file type you need. For example, *.TXT(adding all files of the “Text document” type to the archive), *.DOC(adding to the archive all files of the type " Microsoft Document Word").

4. Select the desired file(s) by clicking on their names in the list.

Once you have selected the files, click the button Add.

Delete –deleting files from the archive

WinZip can remove selected files from an archive or delete the entire archive. To do this, use the command Delete menu item Actions.

There are two ways to delete files from an archive:

1. You can select the files you want to delete in the archive, which is in this moment open at WinZip and then press the buttonDelete(Delete)on the toolbar or select the command of the same name in the menu itemActions(Actions);

2. Select a teamDelete(Delete) in menu item Actions(Actions), and then in the dialog box that opens, select the files or archive you want

Attention: To delete the entire archive, you must select the command Delete in menu item Actions. In the dialog box that appears, select the radio button Entire Archive (Entire archive), and then press the button Delete.

Extract– extracting a file from the archive.

When you select this command, a dialog box opens. Using this dialog box, you can extract (unzip) files from the archive. In this dialog box you need to do the following:

1. Select the archive and files you will extract;

2. Select the folder or drive where the extracted files will be placed (if necessary, you can create a new folder by clicking the button New Folder);

3. Press the button Extract

View –viewing files stored in the archive

Select All – select all archive files

Deselect All – deselect archive files

Virus scun (Check for viruses)

Make .Exe File – creating a self-extracting archive

Uuencode

Test (test) –archive testing

CheckOut -

Install (installation)

The analysis below compares the consumer qualities of two archiving programs under Windows platforms 95/98/ME/NT/2k/XP: WinZip v7.0 SR-1 and WinRAR v2.5. Perhaps the article will enable the user to make the right and informed choice of his working archiver.

Supported files

As you know, the zip data compression format is the most common. Most files available for download on the Internet are in this format.

Common archive file formats on the network are also rar, arj (old compression format), TAR, gzip (typical for servers on *nix platforms), as well as various types of self-extracting archives (which do not require a special archiver program for unpacking). The CAB algorithm is mainly used for software distributions from Microsoft. The UUEncode, XXencode, BinHex, MIME formats are most often used when transferring files via email and are accepted by most email programs.

Thus, it is logical to start the analysis by considering the types of supported WinZip and WinRAR files. Since the main task of packer programs is to actually pack and unpack files according to various compression algorithms, the ability to work with the largest number various types of archives using one archiver application. So, as follows from the description of the programs, the supported file types declared by the developers are as follows:

Zip, TAR, gzip, CAB, UUEncode, XXencode, BinHex, MIME, ARJ, LZH, and ARC are supported by connecting external programs;

Zip, RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH are supported by connecting external programs.

Obviously, WinZip supports a wider range of file types, but note that it does not support the rar format, while WinRAR fully supports the zip format.

Compression algorithms

The rar compression algorithm, used as the main one in WinRAR, in the vast majority of cases allows you to achieve higher compression than zip. This is achieved by optimized program code and the use of original algorithms in WinRAR for various cases. These include the creation of Solid (continuous) and Multivolume (multi-volume) archives.

The creation of Solid archives uses a compression algorithm that allows you to convert several files into an archive of continuous data (continuous data stream), which allows you to significantly increase data compression (by 10-50%) when creating an archive consisting of a large number of small files. However, in this case, if it is necessary to update one or more files, compression in the archive (update) will be much slower. This can be improved by adjusting the rarfiles.lst file, which describes the order of files in the Solid archive (sorted by extension).

Thus, frequently updated files, if necessary, can be placed at the beginning of the archive, and access to them will be faster.

Creating Multivolume archives in WinRAR is advisable when transferring a large amount of data to magnetic media of limited capacity (floppy disks, ZIP drive), as well as when transferring data as attached files by email, since most mail servers do not process emails with attached files larger than 1-2 MB.

It should be noted that WinZip also allows you to create a semblance of Multivolume archives, called Multiple Disk Spanning, however, its use is extremely inconvenient and is rarely used, since it is necessary to manually create an archive on the media and then add files to it until the media (for example, floppy disk) will not be full, then insert a new one. In this case, there is no way to force the size of a single volume. In WinRAR, this process is completely automated: it is enough to designate the path to the archive as, for example, A:\bbb.rar and set the value of one volume as autodetect (autodetection), and then just insert a new floppy disk at the request of WinRAR.

When archiving WAV and BMP files in WinRAR, it is advisable to use additional algorithm Multimedia compression, which in some cases allows you to further increase compression by 20-30%.

Thus, it is obvious that WinRAR’s compression algorithms are more efficient than WinZip’s and allow you to significantly increase the degree of file compression depending on the type of data being archived.

Program interface

Both applications in question have an almost identical interface; the window and program menu correspond to the window of a standard Win32 application. It should be noted that WinZip also has additional interface for beginners, called WinZip Wizard, which allows you to add or extract files to/from an archive step by step and with hints, but in practice it is used quite rarely.

The main difference is various types presentation of files and/or archives in the main program window. The WinZip window can only display files contained in the archive, they are arranged in a row and the path (in the case of an archived file containing subfolders and files) is displayed in the Path field; in WinRAR, the location of the files corresponds to a location similar to standard Windows Explorer, and it is possible to display both files in the archive and regular ones, not compressed files and folders located on any of the computer’s storage media. Probably, from the point of view of the average user, the WinRAR interface is the most convenient.

Also, both applications support Drag&drop technology, there are context menus that can be called right click mouse and allow you to quickly add/extract files (in the case of WinZip - only extract), it is possible to sort files according to various criteria - name, type, modification date, size, etc.

Functionality

WinZip is very ascetic in terms of the number of functions: it is possible to perform only the most necessary actions - new, open, add, extract, delete, add a shortcut... It is possible to scan for viruses with the program, user installed and specified in the WinZip settings, adding a password to the archive, testing the archive for integrity, creating self-extracting archives.

WinRAR has all the above features of WinZip, plus a number of others useful functions, for example, such as adding a Recovery record (information for recovery) with the ability to Repair (recovery), Locking archives (closing the archive), setting the Dictionary size (dictionary size), estimating the estimated size of the archive for various compression algorithms, the time to perform operations on compression Estimate (expected).

A recovery record (recovery information) allows you to add a small piece of service information to the archive, which will make it possible to restore a damaged archive even if the information, for example, ended up on damaged floppy disk clusters. Repair actions are performed when the Repair command is executed.

The Locking archives function is used in case of long-term storage of particularly important data. This function prohibits subsequent modification of the archive by WinRAR in order to avoid damage or distortion of data.

Setting the Dictionary size takes values ​​from 64-1024 KB. The highest value allows for the most compression but requires more volume random access memory workstation. For example, a dictionary size of 1024 KB requires at least 7168 KB of memory ( *5+2048 KB).

The Estimate function can be very useful for the following reasons. This estimate shows the expected archive size when archiving using six methods: ZIP fast, ZIP normal, ZIP best, RAR fast, RAR normal, RAR best; the approximate time for performing compression is also calculated; the expected degree of compression is calculated.

Since the speed of file compression operations depends on the selected compression degree (higher compression - lower speed and vice versa), before archiving large amounts of data it is preferable to evaluate the compression level when using various methods and time periods for performing each of the operations and select the most optimal compression algorithm for a given case.

Compatibility with other OS

Both WinRAR and WinZip applications, as Win32 applications, are intended for use only on Windows operating systems. Zip and rar files created by these programs cannot be correctly processed by archivers on other operating systems. However, in WinRAR it is possible to use the Dos.SFX and OS2.SFX modules to create self-extracting archives that can be processed in operating systems such as MS-DOS and OS/2, as well as in other operating systems in DOS emulation mode in text mode.

conclusions

As can be seen from the above, WinRAR is in most cases more convenient to use, performs data compression with a higher compression ratio, provides a number of useful service functions and can be recommended for archiving and storing data as the main archiver.

However, the high prevalence of archives in a format supported only by WinZip does not allow us to completely abandon the latter.

Only full WinRAR support for all formats supported by WinZip and compatibility with all previous versions compressed files of various formats will allow you to completely abandon WinZip and switch to using WinRAR.

Almost every user knows the WinRAR and WinZip applications. These are the most popular paid utilities for processing archives. Despite their name, the programs are able to work not only with their main formats, but also with others.

Both of these utilities were released in the 90s. WinRAR was developed by a Russian programmer, and WinZIP was created by PKWare, and since 2006 it has been taken over by Corel Corporation. Recently, archivers have become less used, but sometimes they are simply necessary.

Purpose of archivers

Data compression. The compression level will vary depending on the file. This is used to save disk space and reduce the amount of data sent. You can create self-extracting files. Compared with text files, media content is practically uncompressible.

Data packing. In some cases it may be much more convenient to send one large file than a few small ones. Speed ​​is important here. In addition, you can insert a password into the archive.

Unpacking information. Although archivers have become less in demand, they have not lost their popularity and are quite often used by users.

WinRAR. Brief information

The WinRAR archiver can run on all versions of the Windows operating system and on many other systems. However, there are 32- and 64-bit versions. In addition, there is portable version programs. It comes with a desktop version of the archiver. The application is capable of creating self-extracting archives.

The capabilities and menu of the application have not changed in any way for several years. Trial version The archiver can be used for 40 days free of charge, with no restrictions. The program is able to work with RAR and ZIP.

WinRAR 4.20. Main innovations

In this version of the program, the compression algorithm in RAR has undergone changes, which allows
work effectively with multi-core processes. The number of cores that will be used during processing depends on the file size. In addition, it became possible to work with multiprocessor systems for the Fastest mode. In addition, the amount of memory required for the application has been tripled.

The unpacking algorithm has undergone minor changes. It is worth noting that the speed of this procedure is not affected in any way by the number of cores in the processor. In addition, the compression speed of files in ZIP format has been increased in various systems. In addition, memory for these manipulations increased. There is a "Find Files" command that
can search for data in 7-Zip archives.

WinZip. Brief information

This application, like the previous one, can be installed on various operating systems. The program has a new compression format, Zipx, which lends itself better to compression. But, since this is a closed format, you can only work with it in WinZIP. Therefore, when sending someone data in this format, you need to make sure that it will be opened.

The utility constantly improves compression algorithms and also allows you to work with additional services. The application is distributed in two versions, which differ in functionality. The trial version can be used for three weeks, and the functions are not limited. The program can only work with ZIP and ZIPX.

WinZip. Main innovations

The program is able to connect to cloud services, where you can unpack files, archive them to save space, and encrypt them. The ZipShare service allows you to add to messages various files for different social networks.

The application interface has been slightly changed. Toolbars have been added to it, which can change depending on the work being done. The application also provides the ability to convert Microsoft Office to PDF during the packaging process. An integrated PDF converter is used for this.

You can add watermarks to images and PDF files. In addition, using the integrated program you can adjust the size of photographs.

Comparison of WinRAR, WinZip and 7zip programs

All developers praise their own products. To understand which one is better,
it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis. To do this, you can take a 1000 MB folder, which contains 35 directories with 1090 files various types and format. Analysis
will be carried out on the same computer.

It is necessary to try each program in turn in all modes. It is worth noting that when compressing other file formats, the test time may differ from the main formats. Because each extension uses specific compression methods. In this case, the compression time will be affected by the operating system version.

The results of the program are average. The “No compression” method is a bit of a let down, since the application should perform regular compression much faster. It turns out that there is no point in using it. The “high-speed” method performs compression faster while reducing the size of the original file.

It is worth noting that there was no difference between the other compression methods, and this should not be the case. In addition, there are practically no differences in compression time between the “Fast” and “Normal” modes.

The positive aspect of WinRAR is the interface, which remains unchanged for a long time. In addition, the RAR format is very common among domestic users. In Western countries, ZIP is used more.

The test results were quite contradictory. You may be a little surprised by the archiving time, the variation of which depends on the format used. The Zipx format compresses well, but takes longer than WinRAR. For example, the program took about 8 minutes to compress test data, which is twice as long as the slow WinRAR method. However, the “No compression” method showed twice the better time than that of a competitor.

It is worth noting that this method can be used to send a large number of files in one archive via a file sharing service, etc. In addition, there is a small drawback in this program - it does not display the time remaining until the end of operations.

If you have the WinZIP program at your disposal and you need to compress the data as much as possible, then you should use the Zipx format. But you must remember that you can only open it in the WinZIP archiver.

Another application for archiving and unpacking data. It is distributed free of charge, but at the same time it shows excellent compression performance, however, it consumes quite a lot of time. The “No Compression” method takes the most time out of all the contenders. It turns out that this archiver compresses data best of all, but at the same time spends the most time on the process.

The format of this application is not as common as the first two. However, for personal use and getting good compression, it is perfect. In addition, you can manual mode adjust compression. This can help increase the compression ratio and speed up the entire process.

In general, here is all the information regarding these archivers. Each user must choose the appropriate one himself. Here you need to decide what is more important: speed or compression ratio.

Earlier, when the first PCs were just being developed, the first programs were created to compress data and save space on the hard drive. After all, it was on the first computers that there was a shortage free space was especially noticeable - at that time laser media had not yet been invented, and negligible information fit on a floppy disk. Many archivers that people use today were created at that time. Only new, improved versions of these programs appear. Today they are needed for the movement and long-term storage of information.

People use archiving programs mainly for compression text documents, less often - videos and photographs. Creating an archive is called archiving or packaging. Extracting information – by unpacking or extraction.

Most users prefer the WinRar archiver program, which is considered the most powerful archiver of all those currently existing. And this is not surprising, because this program It really has rich functionality and provides ample opportunities. The program allows you to easily compress data to store it on your computer or move it to another PC.

This archiver has support for all known archive formats, which include rar, which is considered the most effective format. True, there is one limitation - you can create archives only in rar and zip formats, but you can unpack archives in any format.

Also program allows you to create self-extracting archives that can be extracted on any computer, even if the archiver is not installed on it. Data is unpacked with a single keystroke. Another feature of WinRar is the creation of multi-volume archives. They are needed for archiving large amounts of information, which are divided into parts - volumes. The user can set the volume size independently.

Besides, the archiver helps restore damaged archives - this often happens when sending archives by email.

WinRar works great for everyone Windows versions . It is easy to use and multifunctional, but it also has its drawbacks. For example, the archiver cannot compress files in jpeg, png, mp3, mpeg4 formats, because these files are already compressed when created. But the files in txt format, doc and exe can be compressed up to ninety percent.

Another popular archiver is WinZip., which is familiar to many users from ancient times, when there were no LCD monitors yet. For a long time, the archiver was the first and only program that allows you to compress data. The program interface is suitable for both beginners and experienced users.

All versions of the program goes well with operating system Windows. This archiver is easy to use and can be integrated into context menu conductor. WinZip allows you to create password-protected archives. You can also choose the most appropriate information compression method depending on the type of data. The main advantage of the program is the high degree of compression of music files in wav format, which has been repeatedly positively assessed by many users.

WinZip works with many archive formats. These are zip, and rar, and Izh, and Iha, and bz2, which are unpacked by the program quite quickly.

Thus, we can conclude that WinZip and WinRar archivers are among the best archiver programs today. However, according to the results of many tests, it is still in the lead WinRar program, which is preferred by more users.