Author Topic: Is WinZip still worth updating? (Read 71,744 times)

Ehtyar · « **Reply #25 on:** February 07, 2012, 10:33 PM »

Quote from: Josh on February 07, 2012, 09:58 AM

People still use Winzip?

People still use WinRAR?

Ehtyar.

40hz · « **Reply #26 on:** February 08, 2012, 12:20 AM »

Quote from: Ehtyar on February 07, 2012, 10:33 PM

Quote from: Josh on February 07, 2012, 09:58 AM
People still use Winzip?
People still use WinRAR?

Ehtyar.

I know a few people that still swear by it for reasons they're never quite able to explain in ways I can understand. But they're all VCIW types anyway. If it ain't obscure, abandoned, or a hopelessly lost cause, they're not happy with it.

Target · « **Reply #27 on:** February 08, 2012, 01:11 AM »

Quote from: 40hz on February 08, 2012, 12:20 AM

I know a few people that still swear by it for reasons they're never quite able to explain in ways I can understand.

I pretty much use 7Z exclusively these days, but winrar does a few things (via the GUI) that I haven't found in any of the others, specifically round building or extracting multiple archives (sorry I don't have it installed on my work machine, so I can't be more specific).

granted these aren't things I use very often, but they are very handy when you do

NigelH · « **Reply #28 on:** February 08, 2012, 01:51 AM »

One thing that WinZip has that no other zip tool has (that I'm aware of), is the checkout feature.
I used to find this pretty useful for s/w with no installers.

I think someone posted recently asking for a tool that could do something like this with DC tools
Nirsoft has one, although it appears broken under Windows 7 NirSoft Zip Installer

rjbull · « **Reply #29 on:** February 08, 2012, 11:51 AM »

Quote from: Ath on February 07, 2012, 08:39 PM

You'd better be aware jZip installs (or tries to install) add-ons, set your browser homepage and add a search-toolbar.

Grump. I didn't notice that

Thanks for the heads-up.

rjbull · « **Reply #30 on:** February 08, 2012, 02:36 PM »

I haven't tried it, but just came across Bigspeed Zipper, which is rather old, but free and has some interesting features.

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* Quick file compression and extraction with several clicks only
You have 2 "explorers" on the main window. The first one on the left shows the files and folders on your computer, just like the Windows Explorer does. And the second one on the right shows the files and folders in the opened zip package. To compress files, just select them in the left pane and press the button with the right arrow. To extract files, just select them in the right pane and press the button with left arrow.
* Open zip archives on web servers
This COOL feature lets you view and extract the contents of zip packages before starting the download from HTTP servers. Actually you can open zip archives remotely on web sites as if they are local files on your computer. In that way you can save a lot of your time and bandwidth avoiding the download of unnecessary zip files.
* Search for files and text in files inside zip packages
* Simultaneous downloading and viewing of zip packages' contents
* Compressed backups to FTP server or disk drive
* Automate zip compression operations
* Integration with Windows Explorer and Windows shell
* Upload zip packages to FTP servers
* Send zip packages via E-Mail
* Create self-extracting packages
* Split/Join zip package to user defined file size
* Repair damaged zip packages
* No 4GB file size limit

Innuendo · « **Reply #31 on:** February 08, 2012, 06:20 PM »

I have registered copies of Total Commander (thanks to DC), Directory Opus, WinRAR (thanks to DC, again!), and I always return to PowerArchiver and has features not found in any other archiver program. I archive/unarchive a LOT of stuff every day & no other tool is as efficient based on my workflow.

It sports a lifetime license & it's also FIPS 140-2 certified if you're in a position that requires such.

BitsDuJour is supposed to have their flagship product on sale for a pittance coming soon.

rjbull · « **Reply #32 on:** February 08, 2012, 08:02 PM »

Quote from: Innuendo on February 08, 2012, 06:20 PM

I always return to PowerArchiver and has features not found in any other archiver program. I archive/unarchive a LOT of stuff every day & no other tool is as efficient based on my workflow.

Things I do every day are generally archiving files as backups, for which I mostly use command-line archivers in batch files run from a scheduler. What special features PowerArchiver do you need that aren't in other programs?

Quote from: Innuendo on February 08, 2012, 06:20 PM

BitsDuJour is supposed to have their flagship product on sale for a pittance coming soon.

As of today's e-mail, still listed as "coming soon."

mokucax · « **Reply #33 on:** February 09, 2012, 04:33 AM »

I don't think WinZip it is worth updating unless you have a very old version. I am suing ZipGenius which is free and can do most stuff that WinZip does, for a home user is good enough.

hulkbuster · « **Reply #34 on:** February 09, 2012, 08:58 AM »

I am using Winrar and Winzip 15 and the commandline program too that is in their website and i like using the commandline version of Winzip although it can be used only after version 13, i noticed Winzip performed more better if not in a fraction or in a few and i mean few marginal scale while compressining the pictures and opened files , where as Winrar performed much better while compressing single Setup.exe and mp3 files no matter how big the file size was.
I have made a batch file for both the programs and i like both of these program and 7Zip is my new addition to my tool and sometime in most of the cases 7Zip performed exponentially well then Winrar and Winzip and although i don't like its ugly interface it really does compresses more than Winrar and Winzip and i am using this to compress only huge files like something around 1 or 3 or 4 GB of data and what do you know it compresses and gets the job done.

I have made a batch file for this too, but back to the question wanting to update Winzip , i think its only a personnel choice since new Winzip supports rar, 7zip , iso and whole new list of extension.

Code

But the new Zip files made by Winzip 14 or 15 or later cannot be extracted by Winrar i already checked and double checked don't know why but may be it is made that way(i know very clearly that Winrar used to extract the zip extension quire easily). But 7zip can be extracted by Winrar and don't know about the zip extension.

oblivion · « **Reply #35 on:** February 09, 2012, 10:12 AM »

I seem to have opened a can of worms...

I'm always a little nervous about experimenting with too many archivers; my last serious experiment with Something New was a highly recommended freeware package called IZArc that, despite alleging Zip compatibility and all the rest of it, choked on an archive with several thousand files in it. Whatever I use, I want to be able to have complete trust in it...

The 7Zip engine seems reliable, although I dislike the interface. (It always seems to be more of a struggle to create archives than it should, somehow.) So I'll try jZip (in its "corporate with no extras" flavour) to see if it's a better interface to 7Zip than 7Zip's own, and there's a few others that probably deserve a look.

Does anyone know of a zipfile manager that can do something I've only ever found a straightforward way to do with ARJ -- archive all files from a folder that are more than x days old, preferably via a commandline version? (FreeArj is good but it doesn't look like it's ever going to be anything more than a nod to an archiver that used to be a lot more important than it's ever likely to be again...

)

Jibz · « **Reply #36 on:** February 09, 2012, 03:26 PM »

Quote from: oblivion on February 09, 2012, 10:12 AM

Does anyone know of a zipfile manager that can do something I've only ever found a straightforward way to do with ARJ -- archive all files from a folder that are more than x days old, preferably via a commandline version? (FreeArj is good but it doesn't look like it's ever going to be anything more than a nod to an archiver that used to be a lot more important than it's ever likely to be again... )

Not a zipfile manager, but WinRAR has the -to option which processes files older than a specified period, for instance -to2d would process files older than 2 days.

Innuendo · « **Reply #37 on:** February 09, 2012, 03:36 PM »

Quote from: rjbull on February 08, 2012, 08:02 PM

Things I do every day are generally archiving files as backups, for which I mostly use command-line archivers in batch files run from a scheduler. What special features PowerArchiver do you need that aren't in other programs?

Keep in mind that I haven't kept up on the recent advances of other archivers, but when I made my purchase PowerArchiver was far and away the fastest of those I tested. The Explorer-integration is unmatched with everything you can possibly need in the context menu (you can add & remove to your tastes)and actually has aesthetically pleasing icon types for all your archives along with a very nice UI. That's a niggle, I know, but archiving programs are usually infamous for having very homely icons & a UI only a mother could love.

There's also functionality to email, burn, or FTP an archive without having to go through a ton of mouse-clicks. There's a backup scripting engine that will make short work of any backup jobs you might want to accomplish without having to resort to using the CLI, but there's a command-line component as well if you are interested.

What I believe to be a unique feature is a queue system that will, if you'd like, queue up numerous archive operations and work them in order so your hard drive isn't thrashing while you try to unarchive a dozen or so zip files all at once. Oh, lest I forget, there's also a preview panel that accepts Total Commander WCX plugins so it's extensible to recognizing more file types.

Of no use to me, but I'm sure it's important to others is Outlook integration and the international version has been translated into 20+ languages...not just the program, but the help file itself.

Something that they have been really excited about lately is they recently implemented a new auto-update system that will download the minimum amount of data needed to upgrade your install to the latest version. No more having to download the full installer unless you want to.

Quote

As of today's e-mail, still listed as "coming soon."

Today's the day. $13.98 for the English version & slightly higher for the International version. Lifetime updates.

Innuendo · « **Reply #38 on:** February 09, 2012, 03:40 PM »

Quote from: NigelH on February 08, 2012, 01:51 AM

One thing that WinZip has that no other zip tool has (that I'm aware of), is the checkout feature.

FWIW, Nigel, PowerArchiver has the Checkout feature as well. Used to be every archiver in the land had that feature, but it seems it has gone the way of the dodo.

rjbull · « **Reply #39 on:** February 09, 2012, 08:25 PM »

Quote from: Innuendo on February 09, 2012, 03:36 PM

[...] There's a backup scripting engine that will make short work of any backup jobs you might want to accomplish without having to resort to using the CLI, but there's a command-line component as well if you are interested.

What I believe to be a unique feature is a queue system [...] a preview panel that accepts Total Commander WCX plugins so it's extensible to recognizing more file types.
Today's the day. $13.98 for the English version & slightly higher for the International version. Lifetime updates.

Thanks, Innuendo! As Queen Elizabeth the First said about taking a bath twice a year, "Whether We hath need of it or no," I pressed the button

rjbull · « **Reply #40 on:** February 09, 2012, 08:29 PM »

Quote from: Jibz on February 09, 2012, 03:26 PM

Not a zipfile manager, but WinRAR has the -to option which processes files older than a specified period, for instance -to2d would process files older than 2 days.

Not sure if it's what you meant, but the RAR.EXE command-line version in the WinRAR directory has:

tb<date>      Process files modified before <date> in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format

rjbull · « **Reply #41 on:** February 09, 2012, 08:37 PM »

Quote from: oblivion on February 09, 2012, 10:12 AM

The 7Zip engine seems reliable, although I dislike the interface. (It always seems to be more of a struggle to create archives than it should, somehow.) So I'll try jZip (in its "corporate with no extras" flavour) to see if it's a better interface to 7Zip than 7Zip's own, and there's a few others that probably deserve a look.

I always found 7zip reliable. If you're looking for an alternative interface, be aware that PowerArchiver supports 7zip too:

Quote

7-Zip Compression

7-Zip is an advanced compression format featured in PowerArchiver. It is an open source format, providing an open architecture and high compression ratio. 7-Zip outperforms ZIP, ACE and even RAR in many tests. However, 7-Zip’s greatest strength is that it is not controlled by any organization or individual, but by an open source LGPL project to which anyone can contribute. More information on 7-Zip and its superior compression can be found at 7-Zip.org.

PowerArchiver also features a Transparent Update feature for 7-Zip archives, which allows you to quickly add or remove files even if the archive is “Solid”. PowerArchiver supports all 7zip methods, including LZMA2.

xtabber · « **Reply #42 on:** February 10, 2012, 03:11 AM »

One very good reason for dropping WinZip is that it is now owned by Corel.

Nico Mac originally wrote WinZip while he was working on the Windows version of Kedit for Mansfield Software. I was a beta tester and he sent me a licensed copy when it went live. I liked the program so much I told him I wanted to pay for it and sent him a check, which he returned. My only complaint about WinZip, which was never addressed over the many years I used it, was that it did not provide an option to set the time stamp of an archive to that of the latest file contained in it, which I consider to be critical for managing archived data.

Although I still always compress to Zip files, the only universal standard for archives, I mostly use WinRAR now to do so, because I like the way it works. But WinRAR will not allow you to create a Zip archive with more than 4GB of content, so I also use 7zip when I need that capability. 7zip is good, but the interface is mediocre and the 64-bit version does not show up in the context menu of XYplorer on Windows 7 64-bit systems.

Ath · « **Reply #43 on:** February 10, 2012, 08:10 AM »

Quote from: xtabber on February 10, 2012, 03:11 AM

7zip is good, but the interface is mediocre

That's just a matter of taste, personally I like the bare-bones look and feel, but you can replace the toolbar images for a nicer set, if you like.

Quote from: xtabber on February 10, 2012, 03:11 AM

the 64-bit version does not show up in the context menu of XYplorer on Windows 7 64-bit systems

It does in Xplorer2 and Windows Explorer, so that must be a XYplorer issue

is your XYplorer 64 bit too? If not you might need to install the 32 bit version (of 7-zip) too.

Edit: added 7-zip 32 bit note

oblivion · « **Reply #44 on:** February 10, 2012, 09:36 AM »

Quote from: rjbull on February 09, 2012, 08:37 PM

I always found 7zip reliable. If you're looking for an alternative interface, be aware that PowerArchiver supports 7zip too:

So it does.

I also "pressed the button." I have uninstalled Winzip (and took the opportunity to tell them why, when the "why oh why are you doing this dreadful thing" webpage opened

) and replaced it with my shiny new PowerArchiver -- which cost me about the same (thanks BDJ!) as the WinZip upgrade would have done.

I have yet to experiment with the commandline tool, but I'm pleased it's there. And the developers appear to be thinking seriously about portability, which is also important to me (my most important "computer" is a portable HD.)

worstje · « **Reply #45 on:** February 10, 2012, 10:06 AM »

The one problem I have with 7zip, and also with Winrar in the past, is that drag-and-drop tends to unzip to some temporary directory first, and gets moved to the right location afterwards. When dealing with 1gb+ archives, that shit is slow and half the time I need to delete stuff because I run out of diskspace.

I really wish that would get fixed some time. (I know there's a setting for it, but it's a dud in my experience.)

Innuendo · « **Reply #46 on:** February 10, 2012, 04:33 PM »

Quote from: oblivion on February 10, 2012, 09:36 AM

So it does.

PowerArchiver supports more archive formats than most archiving programs out on the market. You'll be hard-pressed to find something it won't open.

Quote

I also "pressed the button." I have uninstalled Winzip (and took the opportunity to tell them why, when the "why oh why are you doing this dreadful thing" webpage opened ) and replaced it with my shiny new PowerArchiver -- which cost me about the same (thanks BDJ!) as the WinZip upgrade would have done.

Glad I could help you in your decision. A lot of people automatically dismiss the idea of buying an archiving program out of hand because there are so many freeware alternatives out there. There are a lot of programs out there that will do most of what PowerArchiver does & they will do those functions very well, but there's nothing that matches or beats all of what PowerArchiver has to offer and the authors are always working hard on bringing us something new or enhanced.

I hope you enjoy using the program half as much as I do. I use it literally every single day & I'm not happy when I have to use a computer that doesn't have it installed.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #47 on:** February 10, 2012, 05:04 PM »

I use zipgenius and 7-zip, as per my observation these two handle more file formats than winzip (If i'm not wrong, atleast that was the case in the past).

Lashiec · « **Reply #48 on:** February 10, 2012, 08:32 PM »

Quote from: xtabber on February 10, 2012, 03:11 AM

But WinRAR will not allow you to create a Zip archive with more than 4GB of content, so I also use 7zip when I need that capability.

That was finally fixed on version 4.10, so give it a spin. I don't know how it took so long for them to add such feature.

Quote

7-zip is good, but the interface is mediocre and the 64-bit version does not show up in the context menu of XYplorer on Windows 7 64-bit systems.

A limitation of XYplorer and a oversight on 7-Zip. XYplorer is a 32-bit application only and 7-Zip only includes a 64-bit shell extension (WinRAR includes both versions). Donald said a 64-bit version of XYplorer is coming but I don't know how he intends to do that given the number of roadblocks ahead.

Edvard · « **Reply #49 on:** February 12, 2012, 01:56 AM »

AFAIK, the best reason for owning WinRAR is the ability to create RAR archives.
Un-archiving them can be handled by just about any archiver.

Quote from: worstje on February 10, 2012, 10:06 AM

The one problem I have with 7zip, and also with Winrar in the past, is that drag-and-drop tends to unzip to some temporary directory first, and gets moved to the right location afterwards. When dealing with 1gb+ archives, that shit is slow and half the time I need to delete stuff because I run out of diskspace.
...

Igor deals with that question in the FAQ:

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Why does drag-and-drop archive extraction from 7-Zip to Explorer use temp files?

7-Zip doesn't know folder path of drop target. Only Windows Explorer knows exact drop target. And Windows Explorer needs files (drag source) as decompressed files on disk. So 7-Zip extracts files from archive to temp folder and then 7-Zip notifies Windows Explorer about paths of these temp files. Then Windows Explorer copies these files to drop target folder.

To avoid temp file usage, you can use Extract command of 7-Zip or drag-and-drop from 7-Zip to 7-Zip.