7-Zip 19.00 released

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 22, 2019
Software
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54

7-Zip 19.00 was released as a stable version on February 21, 2019. The new version of the open source program to manage archives is the first stable release of 2019. It comes a day after the disclosure of a critical vulnerability in WinRAR and several other programs that rely on an old library file.

The program is offered as a 32-bit or 64-bit version for Microsoft Windows devices. 7-Zip supports all major client and server versions of Windows, including those that are no longer supported by Microsoft.

You can run 7-Zip on Windows NT or Windows 2000 devices and it should run fine on those. Existing users may download the new installer from the 7-Zip website to install the new version over the current installation.

The changelog published by Igor Pavlov, the developer of 7-Zip, has two entries only. The main improvement in the new version is an increase in the encryption strength of 7z archives.

The developer increased the random initialization vector size from 64-bit to 128-bit and improved the pseudo-random number generator next to that.

Encryption strength for 7z archives was increased:
the size of random initialization vector was increased from 64-bit to 128-bit, and the pseudo-random number generator was improved.

The 7z archive format is the native format of 7-Zip. 7-Zip users may type a password in the creation dialog to encrypt archives. Just select the 7z archive format as the compression format and type a password to create an archive with improved encryption strength. You may also encrypt file names to obfuscate those.

Several -- unnamed -- bugs were fixed in the new version next to that.

Previous versions, three in total were released in 2018 -- 7-Zip 18.01, 18.05 and 18.06 -- improved performance and memory utilization among other things.

Closing Words

7-Zip is a popular open source software to manage -- create and extract -- archives. It supports all popular formats and many lesser popular formats, encryption, multiple volumes, different compression options and a lot more.

Now You: Which archive software do you use, and why? My favorite program is Bandizip.

Summary
Article Name
7-Zip 19.00 released
Description
7-Zip 19.00 was released as a stable version on February 21, 2019. It fixes several bugs and improves the encryption strength of the 7z format.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. pj_in_fl said on March 10, 2019 at 12:46 am
    Reply

    $0.02 – I don’t care how it looks since at least 99% of the time I’m using it via context menus.

  2. muh UI flash said on February 25, 2019 at 10:24 am
    Reply

    To me the one great and useful thing 7z does is enable extracting (some, anyone know what kind?) installers. For instance: If one wanted to update a “portable” Kodi (-p flag after the target in shortcut, try it), one can simply right-click the installer.exe and extract the files within, then simply copy/paste the relevant files. But yeah it won’t work on what are probably more encrypted and closed exe files. It’s nice to preview what some rando exe will end up installing too.

    Hell, if 7z were to support ARC it’d be the only app I’d ever use, but for that I have peazip portable in the send to menu for files and folders (don’t use it often though). Also, creating rar files seems mostly pointless now, finally, so I haven’t bothered to install it in a while..

  3. Neville said on February 25, 2019 at 6:23 am
    Reply

    When will it get to 8-Zip?

    1. James said on February 1, 2021 at 4:49 am
      Reply

      Nope, there will be 10-zip directly and that’s the way it will remain forever! :)

      BTW there was an 8-zip in the Windows Store that I believe used 7-zip’s code for archive support. I remember because for quite some time it was the sole/best archiver available for Windows RT.

  4. Happy 7-Zip User said on February 23, 2019 at 10:45 pm
    Reply

    Thanks for the post! Updating…

  5. Alex said on February 23, 2019 at 1:06 pm
    Reply

    For years the specific feature that kept me on Winrar was the 7z’s lack of “Delete files after compression” (aka Move files to archive).
    This is very useful when you want to make some free space on remote servers (but still not delete anything). Fire up the compressor on a X-Gb’s directory full of logs, may take more than 15min to complete. Lack of delete-after, forces you to remain connected to the rdp session and manually delete afterwards. So much better to start-compress-delete and close the window..

    Nowadays, the feature that 7z still lacks , but Winrar has, is not in the compression engine, but rather a part of the GUI: the ability to create Profiles, Save them, and add them to the Windows context menu.
    For example , a Profile I make frequent use is the Archive+Delete1, ie: “compress with maximum compression, delete after, set the DateTime of the archive equal to the date of the newest file, lock archive”.
    I have also Archive+Delete2, which is all the above, plus “add each file to a separate archive”.
    But still, I want the default option to be ‘just compress’, as it is the one used most..
    Winrar has the option to save them, and put the 2 profiles in the right-click windows menu.

  6. Sampei Nihira said on February 23, 2019 at 12:33 pm
    Reply

    Also Bandizip v.5.23 (2019/2/23) can be performed with Windows XP.

    https://en.bandisoft.com/bandizip/old/

    But I personally replace the files in the 7z folder with those updated to version 19.

  7. Emil said on February 23, 2019 at 12:16 pm
    Reply

    7zip theme manager? Ghacks readers knew it 10 yrs ago :-)

    > https://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/31/7-zip-theme-manager/

  8. wonder said on February 23, 2019 at 11:51 am
    Reply

    I wonder how many of these “I want modern Windows app” have archiver windows open all the time so they have to look at “Windows 95ish icons”.

    ROFL

    1. James said on February 1, 2021 at 4:40 am
      Reply

      Lol. Hear, hear!

  9. Jeff said on February 23, 2019 at 10:13 am
    Reply

    Why I prefer WinRAR over 7-Zip is because I can search inside RAR archives using Windows Search once the appropriate plugin (PDF iFilter) is installed. For archived or compressed PDF documents, it’s very useful. 7-Zip archives without any way to search inside them are like solid blocks. Not very useful. If I want to use LZMA, I have to use it inside ZIP container and install IFiltershop’s ZIP filter. Then such ZIP archives’ contents can be indexed by Windows Search. RAR is usually no trouble at all.

    And WinRAR as an app is also pretty fantastic with lots of options. I prefer to use archiving apps from the same developer as the compression engine and file format, so it’s either 7-Zip or WinRAR for me. It’s like how would prefer a browser made by the same developer who also develops the rendering engine. WinRAR’s biggest advantage, especially with RAR5 vs 7z is despite almost the same compression ratio (well, *slightly* larger size than LZMA), it is extremely CPU, disk and memory efficient compared to 7z.

  10. John C. said on February 23, 2019 at 6:24 am
    Reply

    I’ve gone through many, many file archivers and eventually they all either went over to costing money or else they broke. It took me a while to warm up to 7-Zip, but now it’s my favorite. It’s never let me down and is a very well written program.

  11. supergirl said on February 23, 2019 at 2:55 am
    Reply

    I miss 7Zip…You think its bland looking you should see what Linux has to offer..LoL

    I thought M$ has acquired it….Glad to see its still open source.

  12. Moloch said on February 22, 2019 at 9:54 pm
    Reply

    You can use the 7-zip theme manager if you want new icons. Google it.

    1. Peter said on February 23, 2019 at 2:27 pm
      Reply

      A nice 7zip theme (including the theme manager and instructions):
      https://www.deviantart.com/alexgal23/art/Windows-10-7-Zip-theme-597582931

      1. Lagerfeld said on February 23, 2019 at 9:53 pm
        Reply

        Agreed 100%, all that would look great in 7zip BY DEFAULT. I can use ResHacker to switch all those icons in 7zip .dll files, or I can install a program to do it for me. Yes. We all agree. WHY can’t I have that straight out of the box? It seems you lot don’t read/understand my point at all. I do not workarounds/patches, I want great s**t for free without any effort on my part. Would you buy/use an iPhone if the UI looked like A**, but comes with instructions on how to jump through hoops to make it visually pleasing? iPhone: THE POWER USER EDITION! Not sure that one would be out of stock very soon =) But yeah, I got peoples blood boiling! Call me a troll, call me whatever, I just want this out on the table. Developers need to know too, they are surrounded by YES-men apparently “wooow this is great this works like a charm this is the best since sliced bread!” Nobody dares to tell the emperor his butt is showing.. I am not stating anything new and shocking here, there are many many sites explaining good functional UI design online. Daniel Fore’ of Elementary fame has written lots and lots about the subject, amazing icon designers like Sam Hewitt likewise..not to mention some guy named Jonathan Ive..among many many others. This FUNCTION OVER FORM needs to stop, because it’s not a valid argument anymore. It’s regression, not progression. We have hardware that can deal with the processing power eyecandy requires now, the phone in your pocket is twice as powerful than the laptop you bought in 2007 with Windows Vista, where you had to turn off everything to make anything run. And do you really think you need a 50.000 dollar gaming rig to extract files using 7zip with the new icons, compared to the POWER USER 7zip with the ancient icons? Then you probably are one of those grumpy old mummies that use WinAmp for music and think VLC is prettier than Miss Columbia. GET REAL people. Let’s move forward.

      2. James said on February 1, 2021 at 4:37 am
        Reply

        Geez, calm down dude. Cease and desist with all the exaggeration and entitlement. And for heaven’s sake stop making idiotic comparisons between the UI of a $1000+ iPhone and that of a FOSS app.

        Personally I agree with you to the extent that if the dev can get his hands on a more modern looking icon set for free then he should use it by default. That said, I don’t want the app to actually become bloated and slow and the dev wasting his bloody time on crap like full-fledged theming or custom UI widgets and the like.

        More importantly, unlike you I actually don’t consider the excellent program to be not worth using simply because the icons are dated. Better icons if possible? Great. If not, meh, not a deal-breaker in the least as long as functionality, speed etc. remain stellar.

        If it bothers you so much, just stop whining and use something else. No-one’s putting a gun to your head and forcing you to use programs with supposedly bad or dated looks (subjective opinion) anyway, especially when there are paid and free alternatives galore. No matter how much you rant you’re not gonna start a software UI revolution in any case.

    2. Lagerfeld said on February 23, 2019 at 11:20 am
      Reply

      Yeah the 7zip developer can also Google it, contact someone who designed nice toolbar icons and filetype icons and ask permission to hardcode those into his/her program. We’re not talking about rewriting the program, just replace 30 .tiny, hideous bmp files with good ones. Instead of having to resort to yet another program to do something that should have been there in the first place. Also, I got to laugh at people using garbage-looking stuff calling themselves POWER USERS.. If 7zip ever updates its looks, everyone will use it and we’ll ALL be power users..really upsetting to the “power users” I’m sure. 7zip is a fantastic program, and free, what’s not to like!!??? …the icons and the toolbar.. The world is an ugly enough place, we don’t need ugly programs and ugly operating systems too. Someone here called me out on how many distros I have used: I have used/tried about 150 of them over the years. At the moment 3 of my computers have Deepin, Elementary and KDE installed, all BLAZING FAST too (what, doesn’t ugly mean fast and pretty mean mean slow????), still waiting to see what the Zoring guys come up with this year. You notice a pattern here, yes? I don’t use retro fugliness like XFCE, MATE etc etc.. Because I’m not a POWER USER. =) I don’t have to either, because my computers are not toasters found in landfills in Africa 20 years ago..but mostly because I don’t like to look at the UI-horrors on the screen. Maybe Martin Brinkmann can write an article about the subject of visually pleasing UI, because it’s actually a big issue, so we can all argue about it in a correct thread instead of soiling the one belonging to 7zip.

      1. Anonymous said on February 24, 2019 at 4:58 pm
        Reply

        Lagerfeld the 7zip developer doesn’t want to google it, he likes the default toolbar and default icons. His program, his choice. He is kind enough not breaking the option to change them with the theme manager. You on the other hand? Not so kind and full of entitlement.

  13. Coriy said on February 22, 2019 at 9:36 pm
    Reply

    I use Bandizip, as well. The only problem I have is a purely cosmetic one. I dislike the console being wrapped in Bandzip and showing the progress of compression and decompression.

  14. Yuliya said on February 22, 2019 at 9:14 pm
    Reply

    I love 7zip. It’s the very first program I install after I configure Windows. I use 7z for my backups. I personally like the icons, somehow they fit well with Windows 7’s both Classic and Aero look and with Windows 10’s “METRO UI” or whatever Microsoft calls it nowadays. I think they should not be changed, at the end of the day I care about the program being lightweight, fast and familiar. I don’t want stuf to change over night and to have to learn again what every button does. It’s not broken, don’t attempt to fix it, please.

  15. Emil said on February 22, 2019 at 8:36 pm
    Reply

    It’s so good 7zip stays updated professional software with the professional interface and don’t do another dumbed down analphabet-smartphone-wizard thing.

    1. Martin P. said on February 23, 2019 at 5:00 pm
      Reply

      Totally agree.

  16. Deo et Patriae said on February 22, 2019 at 8:16 pm
    Reply

    I totally agree. This is the reason I can’t even go away from μTorrent to qBitorrent for instance. We suffer from Οbsessive-Compulsive type of thing.

  17. Pea said on February 22, 2019 at 6:26 pm
    Reply

    I use Peazip because of the Key file
    what do you think? is it really safer as the password only encrypted archives?

    1. John Fenderson said on February 23, 2019 at 1:27 am
      Reply

      @Pea:

      I’d not heard of Peazip before, so I can’t speak to how secure its encryption is. However, it wouldn’t be hard to improve the security over, say, the standard zip file password-based encryption — that encryption is easy to break.

      1. Pea said on February 23, 2019 at 4:33 pm
        Reply

        John i discovered Peazip here on Ghacks

    2. Yuliya said on February 22, 2019 at 9:24 pm
      Reply

      7zip uses AES256. It is safe enough. The longer the password the better; standard password practices apply. Though don’t forget to check to encrypt filenames too. You only have to do this once, it rememebers afterwards. For some inexplicable reason it is not marked by default, at least not on 18.0x and previously (I’m yet to update to 19.00). I’d argue there’s very little reason to encrypt an archive and leave the filenames in clear in the first place, that option should not exist at all.

      1. Pea said on February 23, 2019 at 4:31 pm
        Reply

        You are right Yuliya thank you for your opinion.

  18. Clairvaux said on February 22, 2019 at 6:09 pm
    Reply

    Okay, I consider myself personally insulted. Still another version of this ancient program, and still no revamping of those horrible icons, logo and general user interface, straight out from Windows 98 ?

    I use Bandizip, too.

  19. Harro Glööckler said on February 22, 2019 at 4:55 pm
    Reply

    Already 19th and still looks so Windows 95ish…one of the reasons why i bought Winrar. Why can’t they ask some graphics designer for help? It’s a fact programmers don’t have a clue about UI designs.

  20. ULBoom said on February 22, 2019 at 4:05 pm
    Reply

    I use 7 Zip. It was recommended long ago when, as I recall, Win Zip was no longer free. It works and I don’t do anything beside occasionally compress and extract files so no reason to switch.

  21. Anonymous said on February 22, 2019 at 3:59 pm
    Reply

    to Lagerfeld : just use your programs that have “emoji” style icons & graphics for little kids or deranged people that you call “modern looking icons”.

    1. Darren said on February 22, 2019 at 11:34 pm
      Reply

      Geeze guys, Lagerfeld just said it’d be nice if the icons were updated. Doesn’t warrant the group attack. Was you precious 7-Zip belittled? Wow.

      1. Clairvaux said on February 22, 2019 at 11:43 pm
        Reply

        Lagerfeld ? You mean Karl ?

        See ? Even Karl Lagerfeld rose from the grave to curse those hideous icons ! That’s how incensed he is about that crime against good taste !

  22. Lagerfeld said on February 22, 2019 at 3:16 pm
    Reply

    How hard can it be to hardcode modern looking icons into that thing.. Petty, vain and shallow I know, but I can’t use something I can’t look at without barfing. No, I do not want to use a program that changes the icons. This is the same reasoning why I stay away from 99% of the linux distros, they all look like some horrid nightmare from 1994.

    1. dodeskaden said on February 24, 2019 at 9:21 am
      Reply
    2. Anonymous said on February 23, 2019 at 8:38 pm
      Reply

      Get Peazip or something similar, more features,a better look.

    3. Straspey said on February 23, 2019 at 2:33 pm
      Reply

      Lagerfeld said on February 22, 2019 at 3:16 pm –

      “I’m a Troll. — Hmmm — Let’s see how many people I can get to reply to my Troll post about 7-Zip.”

    4. nab said on February 23, 2019 at 12:17 pm
      Reply

      username checks out…

    5. The minority said on February 23, 2019 at 11:49 am
      Reply

      You heard it here folks, he represents the MAJORITY.

    6. walker said on February 23, 2019 at 9:58 am
      Reply

      >No, I do not want to use a program that changes the icons
      Yay, you’ve made my day!

    7. pHROZEN gHOST said on February 22, 2019 at 7:52 pm
      Reply

      Your comment is no more than a pointless whine. Buy WinZIP.

    8. Gary D said on February 22, 2019 at 5:56 pm
      Reply

      @ Lagerfeld

      7-Zip is an excellent program, which has been downloaded over 620,000 times on Softpedia alone.

      If you want to have a tantrum and throw your toys out of your pram because you don’t like the icon and want “7-Zip to hardcode modern looking icons into that thing”. You are the first person I’ve heard of on any forum who rejects a program because of an icon.

      “Petty, vain and shallow I know, but I can’t use something I can’t look at without barfing.” You should add narcissistic and anal to that statement. Oh, and possibly you are a Troll.

      1. Lagerfeld said on February 22, 2019 at 10:02 pm
        Reply

        Call me what you want, I am just stating that in 2018 there’s no reason for software or operating systems to look like ancient unpolished nonsense. That’s just lazy developers. Things can be blazing fast, amazingly functional, complex AND stylish at the same time. I choose to use modern looking things, you can use all the retrostuff you want. I can almost picture you searching the internet for a Windows 98-style launcher for your 1.000e phone. Each to his own, yes, but I’m not alone in this: I represent the MAJORITY.

      2. Jody Thornton said on February 23, 2019 at 11:32 pm
        Reply

        Cheers Lagerfield. PC users (which I admit I am one of) think that EVERYONE thinks the way they do. They think the 3D resource-hogging look was great, but in Vista, they complained about that very same thing when it first arrived.

        Flat is here to stay. It draws your attention to larger shapes and colours. Besides, flat looks have the potential to use less video resources. Now you can do more with less hardware.

      3. Tom Hawack said on February 23, 2019 at 12:03 pm
        Reply

        @Lagerfeld,

        > “Things can be blazing fast, amazingly functional, complex AND stylish at the same time.”

        I agree. Some developers focus so intensively on code, “functionality” and consider style as worthless. Aestheticism is important… but not to the point, IMO, to consider it as a veto authorizing the boycott of an excellent code on the ground its look is lousy.

        It’s a question of priorities, of their hierarchy. To bounce on your pseudonym (RIP Karl Lagerfeld, stay in peace you, Lagerfeld!) I’d say that quality cloth badly cut is still better than crappy cloth excellently sewed. Having neither quality is cheap, having either is ready-to-wear, having both is high fashion.

        Hey, not all developers get that high, lol :=)

      4. Clairvaux said on February 23, 2019 at 11:22 am
        Reply

        @ Lagerfeld

        “Things can be blazing fast, amazingly functional, complex AND stylish at the same time.”

        Exactly. Some workers like their tools to be efficient, and also beautiful. You know : form reflecting function, Bauhaus, etc.

    9. Anonymous said on February 22, 2019 at 5:56 pm
      Reply

      tell that to vlc

      1. Clairvaux said on February 22, 2019 at 7:28 pm
        Reply

        “tell that to vlc”

        I did. Another offender. Just because you’re free and very good doesn’t mean you’re entitled to pollute the environment with a blasted orange traffic cone. That should entail very long prison sentences.

    10. Weilan said on February 22, 2019 at 5:34 pm
      Reply

      They have custom themes that you can download and install and it’s pretty simple.

      I think appearance doesn’t matter as long as the job gets done. And as of lately, I commend such programs that retain the old look of the early 2000s, it’s a nice breath of fresh air rather than everyone trying to make their software look like that flat garbage trend that’s started since Windows 8 in 2012… I hope that dies and we go back to glossy designs like in Vista and 7, they were the best.

      1. Jody Thornton said on February 23, 2019 at 11:27 pm
        Reply

        @Wellan:

        It won’t – the majority has spoken, and they use phones. But when those same people use PCs, they want something that looks contemporary. 3D may look nice, but in a dated way. No one makes desktops like that any more. Many people are using touch on compatible PC screens, so remember how many of us said “No one wants to use a desktop that works like a large phone”. Guess what – many do like that experience, believe it or not.

        On a PC, I really have no need for touch, but again – I’m NOT the majority. But I will admit that I like the flatte look of the Windows 8 desktop (as in the Explorer part; not Metro).

    11. ULBoom said on February 22, 2019 at 3:59 pm
      Reply

      Why not? Facebook’s deliberately confusing interface (read: click, click, click…) still looks like some 1980’s UNIX port with graphics overlaid.

      I don’t mind ancient looking interfaces in simple software that only has a few functions as long as it’s super easy to use. Greenshot comes to mind. Seven Zip has many functions, maybe three of which I use; a better interface would encourage some exploration of other features.

    12. John Gordon said on February 22, 2019 at 3:22 pm
      Reply

      Its then not intended for users like you. It is intended to be used by power users who prefer functionality over looks. As long it works, I use it. And how many distros you have ever used?

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