While it is possible to use software like 7-zip, Winrar or Winzip to extract all archives of a folder, it is still a manual operation. You have to open the folder in Windows Explorer or in the software to extract all archives that it contains. Some program support extracting archives in subfolders, while others do not.

When you first start AutoWinRarZip you are asked to add at least one folder to the program. Each folder that you add will be monitored actively whenever the program is running in the background.

You can then specify a destination directory where the archives will be unpacked to, if you want to delete the archives after a successful extraction and whether you want to create a folder for each archive in the destination directory.

AutoWinRarZip supports several archive formats, including rar and zip, but also lesser used formats such as tar or gzip. The software will auto detect zip and rar extensions in the specified directories and automatically extract the archive contents to the destination folder.

A progress bar and file listing is displayed whenever archives are extracted by the software.

The automatic nature of the program is the one feature that could make this program interesting for some Windows users. Features like automatic extraction of all archives in a selected root folder are also supported by other programs for Windows, like the excellent Extract Now.

AutoWinRarZip is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating system. The program needs the Microsoft .NET Framework, the developer unfortunately forgot to mention which version of it.

Interested users can download the application from the official program website. (via)

A relatively new program like HaoZip needs to at least match the functionality of those programs, or provide users with a unique feature that the other compression programs do not offer to stand a chance.

When you look at the application for the first time you may notice the similarities to the WinRar interface. You have the icon bar at the top, the path and navigational elements, a sidebar with a folder browser and the main area that displays the contents of the active folder.

Even the icons in the button bar are in nearly the same order. But similarities do not have to be a bad thing, as it could mean that users can start working right away without having to get to know the interface first.

But what about the program itself? HaoZip supports 49 different compression formats, from popular formats such as ZIP, RAR or 7z to lesser known formats like LZH, SPLIT or JAR. All or some of those formats can be associated with the program during setup, or under preferences after installation.

Additional customizations are available during installation. It is for instance possible to configure the program’s shell integration or log / history feature in detail. You can add a lot of items to the context menu. This includes standard extraction and archive creation options.

Only zip, 7z and tar archives can be created by Haozip, the remaining formats can only be unpacked. All standard compression features are supported. It is possible to password protect archives, encrypt file names, add comments or switch algorithms.

Additional features include:

• Repair, split, join, convert archives
• Create self-extracting archives
• Theme engine to install new interface themes
• Creation of different compression profiles
• Extraction of multiple archives each to their own distinct folder
• A 32-bit and 64-bit version is offered
• Built-in Tools, including image and text viewer, mp3 joiner, batch rename, md5 checksum calculator

The developer homepage is only available in Chinese which includes the online help. The program itself is offered as a multi-lingual version (Chinese / English).

Is there a reason to switch to Haozip if you are already using a program like 7-Zip, WinRar or Winzip? That depends. It boils down to the individual functionality. Maybe you do not want to pay each year to upgrade Winzip or WinRar, or you are missing support for jar or taz compression formats under 7-Zip. If you are currently missing a feature in your compression software, you may want to take Haozip for a test drive to see if it offers that feature. HaoZip is regardless of that a solid alternative for WinRar,Winzip and 7-Zip.

Haozip is offered on the developer website. It is best to use Google Translate to load the website unless you understand Chinese, that is. Your best bet is to download the multi-language version that is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. The green version of good press (what a translation) could be portable versions of the compression software, but that has not been tested. (via Caschy)

Update: English version of the developer page is available, have added link above. No need anymore to translate the page’s contents first.

What I really like about IZArc is that it opens really quickly and seems to unpack files at least as fast as WinRar. I did not benchmark anything here so this is just my opinion. IZArc offers all the usual features that archive programs offer these days such as shell integration, drag and drop support, self-extracting archives and multi-volume archives.

IZArc can also be downloaded as a mobile version called IZArc2Go and a command line add-on for the main program that supports batch processing is also available at the official website. I don’t think the users that already use 7-zip will make the switch because of their program offering basically the same features.

Update: IZArc has been in development for quite some time. After four years, it is still being actively developed. When you look at the program’s feature list you notice that it supports a wide variety of them. This includes common features like creating, deleting and adding archives, but also less common features like converting an archive into a different format, repairing broken archives or merging multi-volume sets.

IZArc supports a few dozen archive file types plus several CD and VD image formats, which makes the archiving software a versatile tool.

The program integrates well, even on 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. It integrates nicely into Windows Explorer so that it becomes possible to access the most common functions directly with a right-click and the selection of the right option from the context menu.