best archiving/compression program

[breadandbubbles]

i love winrar. absolutely love it. but ive since learned that there are many other such programs with many other such features.

anyone have any recomendations with compression programs or archiving programs?

[Zxian]

WinRAR has the best overall feature set IMO. 7-zip will give you better compression ratios, but that's only if you're really nitpicky about file sizes.

[Jeremy]

I fully agree.

[Ivanov]

7zip is better compression format than RAR!

[suryad]

Can 7-zip deal with RAR files as well?

[Zxian]

It can decompress them.

I still suggest WinRAR because the GUI is a lot easier to use IMO. There are certain parts to 7-zip that I just don't like the feel of.

In the end, to each their own.

[maniaq]

7zip would be the best program, but it doesn't extract some files like ISO

Edited November 15, 2005 by maniaq

[breadandbubbles]

im not too picky about file sizes. good HDD's arent expensive. i was looking for functionality, especially with ISO's. i can see my faith in winrar is well placed. thanks all!

[Jeremy]

7zip is better compression format than RAR!

Yes, Zxian already established that, thanks for being a parrot. Compression is not the one and only factor when considering a compression program.

[eidenk]

IzArc is the best free archiver. Extracts ISO and RAR and plenty of other formats. Compress to 7z and MS CAB notably albeit it does not support creating 7z solid archives which offers in some circumstances (many similar files) amazing compression ratios. You'll need 7-Zip for that. I have got both installed.

For ISO, IMG, NRG, etc, the best is to use Isobuster.

Edited November 15, 2005 by eidenk

[keytotime]

I use 7-Zip for making Installer's and some archives, and for extracting archives i use Winrar.

[breadandbubbles]

im curious though...is there a free version of winrar?

keep in mind im NOT asking for a crack or illegal copy. i am just one of those suckers who has made a personal choice to fully support software by purchasing it (though i dont care whatsoever whether everyone else steals it, thats their choice)

and i say im a sucker because three time snow ive purchased software and when attempting to activate it with a key, ive received those wonderful little "key already in use" messages.*sigh* but thats for a different topic...

no, what im asking here is whether or not winrar has officially released any freeware version of their product.

though i wonder...do i even need it? ive been using winrar for far more days then the evaluation gives me. are there any limits to functionality that im not yet aware of?

[Crash&Burn]

WinRar is a fairly inexpensive pay-for program. And its worth it. WinRar could easily beat 7zip's compression if it allowed the insane dictionary sizes and one other (block setting?) that 7zip allows. Settings that use upwards of 300-2gigs or more of RAM during compression and a significant amount during decompression.

To obtain the 2-5% crunch that 7zip can obtain also takes upwards of double to triple the time frame of a rar. WinRar can also make those SFX installers that 7zip seems to be so popular for.

And it has the best Interface, even better than PowerArchiver or WinZip. 7zip's interface looks and feels and performs like a 1st generation freeware app, its best to just use it from line command if at all. (Not to rag on Free, for free its wonderful but slick interfaces definitely spoil you).

WinRar has a 40 day uncrippled trial, which is better than most any other program that trials.

I also couldn't stand IZarc's interface, nor most any other of the so called "great" archivers. even the last freeware version of PowerArchiver 6.0 something is better than a lot of other current ones.

Edited November 15, 2005 by Crash&Burn

[Scubar]

my vote will definately go with winrar. by far the most functional archiving program ive some across. 7z does offer Slightly better compression but the compressing/decompressing times are just ridiculous and u dont really gain much extra compression from it. A good free archiver is TugZip

Edited November 15, 2005 by ScubaSteve

[phkninja]

try quickzip. it can extract a lot of archives and can create a few too