The free software program can be used to create or extract archives. It supports both zip and 7z on the creating side and about a dozen archiving formats on the extraction side of things. Popular file extensions that it supports include rar, iso, gz or tar next to zip and 7z.

Configuration options are kept to a minimum which some experienced users may not like. There are for instance only four options to chose from when creating new archives. This includes the output format (zip or 7z), the compression level (minimum, optimal and maximum), the optional splitting of archives and password protection.

New files are added via drag and drop or the built-in file browser. The archive is created with a click on Compress or by dragging and dropping the icon in the upper right corner to a folder or desktop on the system.

Archives can be extracted in the main user interface by using the file browser to select them or by dragging and dropping them to the program window. The file browser did not filter supported file formats correctly. The default archive files filter displayed none, even if archives were located in the selected folder.

Free Zip Archiver integrates automatically with the Windows Explorer context menu which can also be used to unpack archives or create new archives directly from the default Windows file management tool.

A compact version of the interface is available which basically reduces it to an always on top drag and drop interface. Just drag and drop archives on the icon to unpack them to the local computer system.

Here is a short video that demonstrates some of the program’s features.

Free Zip Archiver is a program for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7. It requires the Microsoft .NET Framework and will download files from the Internet during installation. Downloads are offered at the developer website over at Hamstersoft.

WobZip is one of those services. The beta service supports a wide variety of archiving formats, including the popular zip, 7z, gzip, rar and tar, but also formats that are not used as much, including bzip2, rpm or deb.

The service supports files with a maximum file size of 100 Megabytes. Files can be loaded from the local computer system, or from an url so that the archive does not need to be downloaded first before it is transferred to WobZip. Password protected archives are supported in both cases as well.

wobzip

To unzip an archive the user would either use the file browser on the Wobzip website, or switch to the url mode alternative to point WobZip to an archive on the Internet. A password can be added in case it is needed to unpack the archive.

Wobzip retrieves the archive, unpacks it remotely and displays the file contents in the web browser on a results page.

uncompress online

Each file in the archive is available for download separately. There is no option to download all unpacked files at once. A download manager may be used for that purpose. Wobzip does however support the download of all files as a zip archive, which is probably the most widely used format.

Wobzip supports direct requests in the form

http://wobzip.org/?type=url&url=FILE_URL_HERE&p=PASSWORD_HERE

WobZip offers fast unpacking of archives from the Internet or the local computer system. It is recommended to use the service only for archives that are not security or privacy related, as the files are uploaded to the server before they are unpacked and offered to the user.

Although 7-Zip is available for both Windows and Linux, only the Windows port has a GUI front end. This means, by default, using 7-Zip in Linux requires the use of commands. Normally this is fine, but the 7-Zip commands can be fairly confusing (even to the experienced user). Fortunately 7-Zip does integrate well with the GNOME and KDE desktops. And it has a front end available. This front end is Q7z and was not created nor is maintained by the makers of 7-Zip.

In this article I will show you how to install and use the Q7Z front end for 7-zip on Linux.

Installation

Although you will find various packages on the Q7Z download page, you should avoid the pre-packaged binaries. Instead you will want to download the Autopackage File, which should work on just about any Linux distribution. Once you have downloaded that file you will need to open up a terminal and follow these steps;

1. Change to the directory holding the Autopackage File.
2. Give the file executable permissions with the command chmod u+x q7z-XXX-package Where XXX is the release number.
3. Issue the command sudo ./q7z-XXX-package Where XXX is the release number.

The installer will begin and walk you through the process. The only interaction necessary is for you to enter your sudo password twice. The Autopackage installer will automatically download all of the dependencies for you and run the full install process. When the installer closes you can then run Q7Z with the command Q7Z.pyw.

Usage

Figure 1

When you fire up the Q7Z tool, the main window should be fairly obvious to figure out. But just in case, let’s take a look at the process of compressing a folder.

Step 1: Click on the Locations tab.

Step 2: Click on the “Dir” button.

Step 3: Navigate to the folder you want to compress and click Open.

Step 4: If you want the compressed archive to be saved in a different location click the check box for “Destination” and then supply an alternate destination for your archive.

Step 5: Go back to the Specifications tab and specify the type of compression you want and any other options you might want to use. From this tab you can also create a self extracting archive (.exe file) as well as password protect your compressed files.

Step 6: Click the Create button.

Depending upon the size of the archive, the process could take some time.

Extracting

You can also extract archives with this same tool. The process is very similar to the creation of archive, only you work in reverse and you are using the Extract tab. The extraction process can extract the same file types that are supported with the compression (zip, 7z, bunzip2, tar, gzip, XZ).

Final thoughts

If you aren’t happy with your compression tool, you might want to give Q7Z and 7-zip a go. It offers solid compression, password protection, varied compression levels. and much more – all in an easy to use GUI interface. And if you’re not terribly happy with G7Z, 7-zip does integrate with Nautilus, so you can use that instead.

In this article I am going to de-mystify Linux file compression and archiving for you. By the end of the article you’ll be compressing and decompressing files in your sleep. And, as a bonus, you’ll know how to do this both via command line and GUI.

Compression versus archiving

The difference between compression and archiving is simple: Compression makes a file (or directory) smaller and Archiving takes many seperate files (such as a directory containing sub-directories and/or files) and turns it into a single file. You can have a compressed archive (such as .tar.gz or .tgz) and you can even have an archive of compressed files (such as a directory that contains a bunch of compressed files). But how do you know what are compressed files verses archived files? Here’s a list of file extensions and what they are.

.tar – This is an uncompressed Tar archive file. This type of archive is unpacked with the command tar xvf file.tar.

.tgz – This is a compressed Tar archive file. This type of archive is decompressed and unpacked with the command tar xvzf file.tgz.

.gz – This is a file compressed with the gzip program. This type of file is decompressed with the command gunzip file.gz.

.zip – This is a compressed file. This type of file is decompressed with the command unzip file.zip

.bz2 – This is a compressed file. This type of file is decompressed with the command bunzip2 file.bz2.

Which compression to use?

Of the three compression utilities (bzip2, zip, and gzip) the tool that will result in the most compression (the smallest file) is bzip2. The only disadvantage to bzip2 is that the algorithm uses more processor to complete than does the other utilities.

If you are sharing your compressed files with Windows users your best bet is to use zip for compression. Although there are tools (such as Stuffit Deluxe for Windows) that can handle bz2 files, the default supported is .zip.

Using the GUI

If you are a fan of the GUI (and who isn’t these days?) you will be glad to know that most all Linux file managers can handle compressed and archived files. In both Nautilus (GNOME) and Dolphin (KDE) you can simply right click a compressed, archived, or compressed archive file and select Extract. Both file managers also offer compression and archiving options when you right click a file or directory.

Final thoughts

Working with compression and archiving is very simple with the Linux operating system. You have plenty of options in both the command line and the GUI worlds.

The 7-Zip Theme Manager can then be used to change the interface of the program itself as well as the icons in Windows Explorer. Each 7-Zip theme comes with a preview image of how the interface would look like if it would be applied to 7-Zip. Between 30-40 different themes are available ranging from graphically stunning themes like Vista Inspirat to playful themes like Star Wars or Futurama.

A click on the Activate Theme button will activate that theme. It is important that 7-Zip is closed during the procedure to avoid complications. 7-Zip will automatically use the activated theme from then on. More than 10 different filetype icons are available as well in the theme manager that can replace the original 7-Zip icons in Windows Explorer. The name of the theme or icon, the creator, license and website are listed below the theme preview window.

7-Zip Default:

7-Zip Vista Inspirat Theme:

The default 7-Zip theme and icons can be activated in the 7-Zip Theme Manager as well to undo the changes. The theme manager contains one additional button that will look for a new 7-Zip and theme version on the Internet.

Of course you can do the same thing, quickly, from the command line. But, for many, the choice between a user-friendly GUI tool and the command line is a no-brainer.

With File Roller you can both create archives and unpack archives. File Roller deals with the following types:

• .tar
• .tar.gz
• .tar.bz2
• .tar.lzma
• .jar
• .ar
• .cbz
• .zip

File Roller also does automatic archive typing, so when you are opening an archive you do not have to declare the type.

Running File Roller

File Roller Main Window

From the GNOME main menu you will find File Roller in the Accessories sub-menu of the Applications menu. When File Roller opens you will be presented with a fairly blank window.

From the main window you can either open an archive for unpacking or create a new archive. When you create a new archive what you are doing is first creating a folder that will contain all of the files, and then File Rollers packs everything up for you automatically.

Let’s create an archive for example’s sake.

Creating An Archive

The first thing to do is click the New Button. When you do this a File dialog will open where you will name your archive. This window can be deceiving because it looks like it wants you to select a file. That is not the case. What you want to do is enter the name of your new Archive in the Name text field. Once you have done that select the type of archive you want to create. After you have taken care of those two options, click the Create button.

At first glance you might think nothing happened. Look again at the title bar of the File Roller window and you will notice the file name of your new archive (see the image to the right).

TEST.tar.gz

Now it’s time to add files and/or folders to your archive. To add a file(s) click the Add Files button. To add multiple files at once click and hold the Ctrl key as you select files. Once you are satisfied with the files you have added click the Add button. What you will see now is the main File Roller window with your files included.

Your Archive Is Ready

You don’t have to save your archive. Once the files are added, the archive is ready. You can check your home directory and you will find it waiting for you.

Don’t think, however, the only thing you can now do is unpack your archive. With this archive open you can add more files or directories. simply go through the process again to add more.

Extracting an Archive

Extracting an archive is very simple. Open a new session of File Roller, click the Open button, select the archive you want to extract, and click the Open button. Once the archive is open you will see the entire contents of the archive. That doesn’t mean the archive is unpacked. In order to unpack the archive you have to hit the Extract button. Once you do that you will have to select a location to extract the contents to. This is a nice feature because, without this step, you could easily fill your ~/ directory with the contents of the archive.

Final Thoughts

I have always been a fan of the command line, because I was weened on Linux with the command line. But for those who do not have the time or inclination to learn the command line, tools like File Roller are ideal for accomplishing every day tasks like unpacking archives.

The url will be loaded into the software and a connection log will be displayed from that process. The next step depends on the type of file (zip, rar, avi or mp3) loaded into the software. The contents of rar and zip files will be shown in the interface with the option to download selected files or the full archive to the local computer.

A click on the extract button will open a different menu that provides the means to extract and download a certain time range of the media file to the computer. This provides an excellent way of previewing those mp3 and avi files before downloading the completely. Both methods works not only with web urls but also on ftp servers.

Load Scout is compatible with most versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 95, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Pismo File Mount Audit Package can mount zip files but also iso, compact iso, compact file set and private folder files as virtual folders on the system. That’s an excellent way to access and execute the contents of a zip file without having to unpack it first.

The software supports a wide range of Windows operating systems including Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista both in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

It integrates itself nicely in the Windows Explorer right-click menu and becomes available only on supported file extensions. Files can be mounted from all available locations including network devices and removable media.

It still looks like a normal 42 Kilobyte archive after the download but the surprise begins when the user tries to unpack that file. What they did was basically pack a 4.3 Gigabyte file consisting only of zeros. That packed file was replicated 16 times and packed again, and again, and again, and again. Or, to use their own words:

The file contains 16 zipped files, which again contains 16 zipped files, which again contains 16 zipped files, which again contains 16 zipped, which again contains 16 zipped files, which contain 1 file, with the size of 4.3GB.

You could basically unpack the 42 Kilobyte file into 4.5 Petabyte of uncompressed data if your hard drive storage space would be enough to do that.

Zip Repair is an easy to use software that tries to repair corrupt zip files. The user needs to provide the location of the corrupt zip file and may select a new name for the recovered version or keep the automatic suggestion.

A list of repaired files will be shown in the next step which are the files that can be extracted from the new zip archive that gets created. The last step lists the amount of files that have been repaired. The last step would be to extract the files from the newly created zip archive.

Extract Now was mentioned in the comments. I did write about it earlier actually but forgot completely that it would have that feature. As the name suggests its main purpose is to extract archives and since I do not pack files regularly I decided to make this my main application to handle archives. Extract Now supports many major file types such as zip, rar, 7z, iso and img, all in all 17 file types are supported.

Two ways are provided to communicate with the program. The main interface supports drag and drop which is probably one of the coolest features in an archiver that I have seen for a long time. Just drop a folder into the interface and Extract Now will scan it plus all subfolders for supported file types. The files will then be added and can be extracted automatically.

Several options can be configured that customize the output like retaining the archive folder structure or to extract archives into their own name folder.

Extract Now can also be added to the right-click context menu to extract files this way. This comes in handy if you want to extract just one file and not multiple ones. I have to admit that I’m so impressed by Extract Now that I made the switch from IZarc to it.

Copying a large zip file, in this case a 11-Gigabyte one, caused the Windows Vista explorer to freeze. “It seems that Windows Vista file explorer (by default) attempts to recurse into any zip archives in a direct subdirectory, allowing users to view the contents of the zip file directly in the sidebar.”

This means that even though you are using another software to unzip files Windows Vista uses the build in zip support to access that file as well which does not make sense at all. It would make sense if you would be using the build in zip functionality of Windows Vista but not if you use a third-party application like Winzip.

The solution was posted as well. The internal zip file support of Windows Vista had to be disabled. This can be easily done with a software like ShellExView from Nirsoft.

The screenshot below shows which items have to be disabled to get rid of the large zip file problem in Windows Vista.

If you actually experience this problem right now you might want to kill the explorer process and load it afterwards again. This can be done by pressing Windows R and typing in explorer.exe.

Read More:

Prevent Explorer from Freezing With Large Zip Files on Vista
Shellex View

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.

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Using Fix Zip is pretty straightforward. You add all the zip archives that you want to check to the queue. After that you can choose which actions should be performed. You may select to test the zip file for data integrity, fix / repair the zip archive and create a new working zip file and extract the contents of the zip to a destination on your hard drive.

The test simply checks if the zip file is not corrupted and writes all information discovered into a log file. The other options should be self explanatory I guess. You should be aware that Fix Zip is not able to recover files that are not there. If you have downloaded a 700 MB movie file in many zip archives and some of those zips are missing you will not be able to recover the whole movie.

Auto Zip Attachments does exactly what the name applies. It adds an AutoZip button to Thunderbird which adds all attachments to an compressed archive, removes the files from the list of attachments and adds the compressed file instead to it. The AutoZip icon will be visible in every compose mail window in Thunderbird. You may override the default behavior of the extension and customize it to suit your needs.

Instead of compressing all attachments into one file you may choose to compress them in separate files or group files of the same type in the same zipped files. It is possible to activate the option to zip files automatically when sending and to prevent that certain file types get zipped at all.