WinRar--Empty Archives??

[Regina]

This is odd and very unsettling.  I was planning on buying WinRar so downloaded and installed it again to use with my files (previously I've been using Ultimate Zip and/or SimFileMaid).

I'm running into really a lot of files that when I go to extract them come up with a message about it being an empty archive.  I know this is bunk, because these are files I had previously in my game.

I was thinking it might possibly be a problem with these particular files already having been extracted with another program--that is, UNTIL several brand new files I downloaded have had the same problem.  I've ended up with a bad .zip file occasionally, but never with the regularity that this is happening.  Has anyone else had a similar experience?

[cristalfiona]

Have you checked to make sure the files arent where you extracted them? I had this message with two files when i downloaded some hair last week, but there was nothing else in the folder, and the package files appeared anyway. I havent checked to see if they are in the game yet though (not allowed to play till i categorise all my hair)

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think I'd be inclined to disable Winrar, download an ordinary zip file and try to open it by right-clicking and extracting the files.  If this works without any problems, then I'd uninstall Winrar and try something else.  I personally haven't used winrar since I had an upgrade and couldn't get it to work properly, but I used to hate the way it took over all my zips and rars and made them look alike!

I now use a program called ExtractNow, which is a drag and drop, free/shareware and has never let me down.  Also, it can deal with both zips and rars at one go.

[nectere]

I get empty archives from imcomplete downloads, using a downloader usually solves this problem, (I use Flashget and Flashot). other people have had success using this method as well

[ZephyrZodiac]

I've had the problem so rarely that I've never bothered with anything like that, but Misty said it first happened with files she already had saved on her PC and had used before.  I remember when I used to use Winrar, that frequently it would damage a file, often irreparably, and often instead of extract the files by copying them it would actually move them, leaving an empty zip or rar behind.

I never actually save zips or rars once I've extracted the files, I simply copy the file to my game and then save the file itself in my download back-ups.  That way, if I need to find it, the windows search engine can find it for me, whereas it can't check what's in rars.

[Sleepycat]

I use 7-Zip, works great and its free 

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

[Regina]

Umm-kay.  Let's see if I can collect my brain cells long enough to sift through this and answer straightly.  I think I've picked up a bug and the last thing my brain wants to do is think. 

Have you checked to make sure the files arent where you extracted them? I had this message with two files when i downloaded some hair last week, but there was nothing else in the folder, and the package files appeared anyway. I havent checked to see if they are in the game yet though (not allowed to play till i categorise all my hair)

I rarely, if ever, use the 'extract' feature in the programs but drag and drop files or use SimFileMaid, so the files from these apparently empty .rar files weren't going anywhere other than in the same directory as the .rar file because that's where I was dragging them.  It's possible, I'm thinking, that the problem occurred the first time they were extracted.  (I know the feeling of wanting to play and not be able to--this is my second week of working on this mess and I'm determined not to play until I get EVERYTHING sorted.  )

I remember when I used to use Winrar, that frequently it would damage a file, often irreparably, and often instead of extract the files by copying them it would actually move them, leaving an empty zip or rar behind.

That's good to know because if it's that problematic I'm not going to buy it.  We were thinking about it because it compresses the files so much better than WinZip.  But in the end, what's it going to save on space if a file has to be downloaded two or three times instead of just once?

I never actually save zips or rars once I've extracted the files, I simply copy the file to my game and then save the file itself in my download back-ups.  That way, if I need to find it, the windows search engine can find it for me, whereas it can't check what's in rars.

I'll probably actually do this once I get my new computer.  I currently have 40 gigs partitioned with about 30 on the main and 9 on the back-up.  Each partition currently has around 6-7 gigs of space left.  That's gobs on the partition, but not much on the main and I like to give myself plenty of elbow room.

but I used to hate the way it took over all my zips and rars and made them look alike!

You have to change settings within the program to make it turn loose of other files.  I have mine set to only open .rar files and I open .zip files with WinZip.

Overall, I much prefer WinZip over WinRar.  WinRar always wants to open in a new window, no matter how you change the settings.  You have to actually open a file to drag and drop something into the archive.  With WinZip when you want to add something to an achive, you merely drag the file over the .zip file name in Windows Explorer and you're prompted about adding it, choose OK and there you go!

I did run into a similar problem as described above today with WinZip.  I'd heard it could extract several archives at once so I decided to try it.  I right-clicked the archives and selected 'extract to here'.  Before I knew it I was getting messages about problem files, ended up toasting two of my .zip files and got some of the messages in German, to boot!  Fortunately, the files that were toasted had already extracted their info.  Maybe something like this happened to those .rar files when I used SimFileMaid to extract a bunch of them at a time.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I never get problems like this with ExtractNow, but of course, it's extraction-only! (Like an 18th Century tooth-drawer!)

But with a lot of sims2 custom files, even if you zip or rar them, the file size doesn't alter as the creators haven't made them compressible anyway!  I just use the compression feature in windows to compress those folders where I store my backups.

[maxon]

Well, I never get problems like this with ExtractNow, but of course, it's extraction-only! (Like an 18th Century tooth-drawer!)

But with a lot of sims2 custom files, even if you zip or rar them, the file size doesn't alter as the creators haven't made them compressible anyway!  I just use the compression feature in windows to compress those folders where I store my backups.

Oh I have Extract Now (you probably recommended it - someone did).  Yeh, it works fine, spits everything out on demand and I don't have to fiddle around with those annoying rar files (or more pertinently, that annoying rar programme).

[ZephyrZodiac]

And it's so SMALL!  I love programmes that don't need 20MB of memory!