Winrar has hijacked my zip files!!

[ZephyrZodiac]

After I had to upgrade my PC, including new hard disks etc., I found I couldn't get Winrar to work any more, so I just gave up and then when I was At Cindy's I saw a programme link there for ExtractNow, which is freeware, works on the drag and drop method and opens both zip and rar files at the same time.  I always use it now and never have any problems with it at all!  Of course, I do have to manually put files into Downloads, but I've always preferred to do that myself anyway.

[Motoki]

It doesn't convert anything, it associates zip files to open with winrar by default when you install it unless you tell it not to. You can always still open winzip and then browse for your files and open it that way.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I agree with that, I used to use Winrar to open everything, but then, I never used Winzip anyway. 

[Hook]

I don't understand.  I have Windows ME, and Zip support is built into the operating system.  Zip files act pretty much like normal folders, with a few differences.  I think the Zip support was integrated into Windows ME from Zip Magic, which I used with Windows 98.  I never downloaded or used WinZip, or any other Zip support on my Windows ME machine.  Has Windows XP taken out the native Zip support??

And I don't give a rat's ass how good RAR might be.  I remember where it came from.  I wouldn't have it on my system at all except that I needed it to get SimPE installed at the time.

Hook

[ZephyrZodiac]

XP still has the basic unzip features that ME had (boy, I still miss my ME though!) but I just use the Extract Now programme for either multiple zips, or rars, or a mixture of both.

[Zeljka]

Where did Rar come from?
I used Winzip straight from the beginning and it was fine, but once I started downloading from MTS, I decided to get winrar.

I sure as hell wasn't going to ask for zip files, and I felt if people who could create mods for the game preferred Rar, it must be better. I really think it is, after all, it can open both formats and though I haven't paid for it, I don't get nags.
Newer versions of Winzip are probably better than the one I last used, but I much prefer WinRar'a Extract Here over browsing for folders and even the Explore feature doesn't nag me.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I paid for it, had great difficulty with the unlock code and although it worked fine after that, when I tried puting the thing back after my upgrade, I just kept getting asked to pay for it - and the darned thing wouldn't work!!!  I tried the unlock code again, but no luck - it's like simenhancer - it remembers the original computer ID, so if you change computers, you have a problem!

[Hegelian]

Newer versions of Winzip are probably better than the one I last used, but I much prefer WinRar'a Extract Here over browsing for folders and even the Explore feature doesn't nag me.

I have a fairly old version of Winzip, 8.1, and one of the several options when you right-click on an archive file is Extract to Here. You can also simply open the archive file (WinZIp supports several formats) in Winzip and drag the files you want into any directory in Windows Explorer.

I myself didn't like WinRAR and uninstalled it. It wasn't so much the function of the app as 1) the way it took over the file assocation for all the achive types on my machine—the original poster's "problem"—and 2) its file icons in Windows Explorer are butt-ugly. This is going to put me well outside the MATY mainstream, but I use an older version of StuffIt (an archive format used mostly by Mac users) for RAR files since I already had it. Perhaps WinRAR doesn't do this, but I find with StuffIt if I choose more than three or four RAR files to expand at once (right-click, choose Expand) the app chokes after the first few and won't do the rest. I have yet to find a limit to how many Zip archives I can unpack with a single command using WinZip—more than is convenient, probably.

Regarding shareware:  All the shareware I have encountered expects you to pay or delete after the trial period, even though not all shareware apps enforce this by disabling themselves. This is the difference between shareware and freeware. Ad-Aware Personal and AVG Free Edition, for example, are freeware as long as you don't use them in a business or institutional setting, whereas WinZip, StuffIt, LView Pro, and Vuescan are shareware programs—you can use them or their trial versions for free for a limited time, and distribute the files ("share" them) with anyone, but you are expected to pay for the software if you intend to keep and use it.

If a shareware app is something you're only going to use once or twice for a particular purpose, then use it for free by all means. If it is something you are going to use on an ongoing and regular basis, you should pay for it (they usually cost less than TS2 and its EPs, anyway, so if you can afford the game and the hardware to run it on, you can afford the shareware).

[ZephyrZodiac]

And it's generally considerably cheaper than commercial programmes, which always disable themselves after a trial period (and only give you very limited functions into the bargain!)

[Regina]

I wasn't able to get back online until just now so wanted to say, Brynne, I was not meaning to be offensive at all and I apologize if I came across that way.

I've learned to be very careful about reading licensing agreements, because with a program like WinRar I've always been tempted to just keep using without paying--that is, until I started reading those agreements.  I don't think I currently have WinRar on my computer so was looking on the website to see if I had misunderstood their EULA.  I haven't yet found it, but on the front page it says:  "You may try WinRAR before buy, its trial version is available in downloads."

Gali, I don't remember WinZip ever being free but then again I've only been online for about 7 years now.  I first downloaded it around 5 or 6 years ago and it wasn't free then.  I paid the $30 for a licensed version shortly after I bought it.  No matter how many times I format my computer, my license number works like a charm, and works with all of their updated versions.  If I only needed a program for extracting I'd simply have one of the freeware extractors, but I do occasionally need to compress something.  I thought it was a really good idea when freeware extractors started coming out because it really stinks to have to pay for a program a person's only going to use in a limited capacity, like unzipping files for games.  However, on the upside I've used WinZip more for unzipping and I've used it for downloads for at least a half-dozen games over the past years, so overall it hasn't been a bad investment.

[ZephyrZodiac]

If I want to compress a file, the basic Windows programme does that, just right-click and "send to compressed (zipped) folder.  Works fine for me.

[Brynne]

I wasn't able to get back online until just now so wanted to say, Brynne, I was not meaning to be offensive at all and I apologize if I came across that way.

No biggie. I am very premenstrual, anyway. 

Honestly, I'm not a die hard zip fan or rar fan. I just want to open my damn files.   

[ZephyrZodiac]

Don't we all!  What I really hate about rar files is you have to open them to see what's in them - so if you're searching for something the windows search engine can't check them  So now, once I've opened them, I keep a copy in an ordinary file in my back up folder.  I also go to great lengths now to do the same with all those damn sims2packs, once I have an ordinary package file, the sims2pack makes a final journey to the Great Recycle Bin in the sky!

[Baa]

As far as I know, it doesn't "convert" your files. It just opens them. Nothing is changed about them at all.

It's like opening a word document in Word, and opening it in WordPad.

[ZephyrZodiac]

It doesn't change them, I agree, but it does mean you can't find anything that's in a rar file without opening it.

[vector]

It doesn't change them, I agree, but it does mean you can't find anything that's in a rar file without opening it.

You can't find anything that's in a zip file without opening it either. 

Or do you mean you need to extract a rar before you can see it's contents? If you double-click to open, you can navigate the folders from the winrar window.

[Baa]

Uh.. you need to open pretty much anything on the computer to see what's in them.

Just like you have to open My Pictures to see your pictures, you have to open the Rar to see what's inside. And extracting it is not required.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Not strictly ture.  If you mouse-over an ordinary file, it usually shows the first file that's in it.   And Windows Search does find things that are in zip files, but not rars.

[Sagana]

All the shareware I have encountered expects you to pay or delete after the trial period, even though not all shareware apps enforce this by disabling themselves.

The (original) idea of shareware is that you try the program and if you like it then you *voluntarily* make payment to the author, and pass it around to others who might also do so, eliminating the need for marketing and other commercial entities and allowing developers to cut out the middle men. The whole point is that it's an honor system payment. Crippleware - that is, stuff that disables itself after a certain period (demoware) or has disabled functions (you can do everything but save :p) - is a corruption of the concept, so much so that the term lost useage (and respect) in the late 80s and early 90s.

WinRAR (despite the nag) however is full-fledged shareware. The idea is that if you like something, you'll be willing to pay for it *because* you like it. If you don't feel it's worth the money, you don't pay for it. You're not doing something "wrong". If you wanted to support the programmer and get documentation and other things they'd made, you'd send them some money, yes? It's the same general concept as sims sites that allow free downloads but take donations for support. The originators of shareware actually requested "donations" even.

Some links:
 http://paulspicks.com/history.asp
http://www.answers.com/topic/shareware

I'm sure there are lots of other good ones. I didn't look very hard. The shareware concept has made millionaires out of people and some very good programming started that way.

I've seen lots of shareware apps that say things like "if you can afford it, send a couple of dollars - if you can't, don't worry about it." Some really good programs even - I used to love gifcreator. Oh and graphicconverter is still the best, most complete image formatting program I've ever seen. I was very pleased when they added it straight up to Mac's OSX (that one might actually be freeware. I don't remember). Anyway *lots* of good stuff. If you want to support the programmer (who, hopefully, is an individual and needs support) send them some money. If you don't, don't.

By the by, I don't like either winwar OR winzip. I use Stuffit Deluxe (paid for on my mac and it works lots lots better. I drag a huge selection, doubleclick and am done. Anything I can, I decompress on my mac before it ever goes to my pc, but I use the zip program that came on the pc (winzip I guess) and winrar for rar files (because MTS2 insists on putting them up) occasionally. I'm not sending them any money tho - I'm not interested in supporting them. If it was *good* it'd work as well as the mac does :p