Unpack Monitor on first glance offers a similar feature set. The program can monitor one or multiple folders on a computer system. Archives that are moved or copied into those folders are automatically extracted based on the application’s rule set.

Unlike the previously reviewed software though, it supports additional formats like 7z, ISO and HJ splitted files.

New directories are added via the Add Directory button in the main interface. This opens a folder browser where the directory can be selected. Once that is done the monitoring configuration window opens where the monitoring and extracting can be configured.

Here it is possible to select a different unpack folder, the scan interval and unpack options. Unpack options range from permanently deleting archives after unpacking to scanning subfolders and launching third party programs. It is furthermore possible to monitor only specific archive types in the folder.

Some Windows users may need to run the program with elevated privileges. If they do not, they won’t see the monitored directories in the program interface. Unpack Monitor displays information about all directories that are monitored in the main program window.

This includes the directory that is monitored, the status and scan interval. The status bar highlights current unpacking jobs. The program supports the use of a default password list, which can be handy to auto-extract password protected archives on the system. Another helpful feature is the ability to stop extracting more files if the hard drive space on the destination drive falls below 1 Gigabyte.

You can minimize the program to the system tray after the initial configuration. The program will continue to monitor and extract archives based on that configuration.

Unpack Monitor is a portable program for Windows users who want to automate their file extraction tasks. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. It can be downloaded along with the program source code from the developer website. (via)

One of the main features was the ability to search for archives in folders. All discovered file archives would be automatically added to the queue and processed. It had some limitations though. The major limitation was that it could not unpack software installers. It is sometimes important to be able to unpack an installer to check the files that will be installed before starting the process. Sometimes a single file might even be all that is needed.

Universal Extractor works pretty much the same way that Extract Now does. It integrates itself into the right-click context menu and can process multiple software archives at once. It can be used to unpack multiple archives or installer that reside in the same directory at once.

The last sentence contains the biggest feature and a limitation. The main feature is that it can extract all kinds of software installers so that the files of each package become available. The limitation is that it cannot search in folders for archives.

To sum it up: Universal Extractor supports additional formats and the important software installers that Extract Now does not. The only unique feature of Extract Now is the ability to search for archives in folders which might not be needed at all depending on the amount of archives on a computer system.

Krunch offers two more options which make the site even more valuable. Unkrunch on web decompresses a compressed file that exists on a webserver on the web. You simply enter the url to the file and it will be decompressed. Last but not least you have the option to compress files on websites and download them as one big compressed file. Pretty useful if you don´t have access to such programs at your computer for instance.