Anyone use PowerArchiver (not free)?

[Leif]

I don't use it myself, but an interesting review here at DonationCoder.com where they seem to rate WinRAR as the best.

[jscher2000]

I've read that the next version of WinZip will not be included in my free lifetime updates from my current license. Whether that is true or not, I have been looking at alternatives and one of the most full-featured appears to be PowerArchiver 2006 which throws in its Outlook add-in for free (unlike WinZip).

Anyone used PowerArchiver recently and have any comments to share?

Added: I guess the "no free upgrade" rumor for WinZip is true (see attached); there are now "subscription" and "maintenance" options for upgrades...

[JoeP517]

Check out the two free products mentioned on the Best Archive Tool - DonationCoder.com page. I prefer TUGZip to 7-ZIP but to each his own.

Joe

[officespacer]

winzip has been free for far too long for me to ever consider buying it now <img src=/S/hushmouth.gif border=0 alt=hushmouth width=16 height=16>

[herworth]

I'd go with Joe on TUGZIP. It's a great utility and you can do a certain amount of scripting for automation. Try it, it's totally free.

[jscher2000]

Strangely I get "connection refused" for http://www.tugzip.com/.

Anyway, I asked about PowerArchiver in particular because I have a special requirement: I need a product that can open ZIP archives I encrypted with the AES used in WinZip 9.0. I also would like one that can read PKZip's AES encrypted archives. This limits my choices a bit.

[AlanMiller]

If you're prepared to wade through it, there has been lots of discussion on the usenet: powerarchiver comparison - Google Groups

This thread, for instance, discusses some comparisons with other archiving programs.

Alan

[jscher2000]

Thanks, but it seems version 9.5 is too new to have been discussed except on "cracks" groups...

[Howard Kaikow]

See http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=...653&dcaid=17653 if you are interested in a free (after rebate) Stuffit Deluxe 9 for Windows.

[jscher2000]

Stuffit Deluxe 9 doesn't open WinZip archives encrypted with AES. See http://support.allume.com/techsupport/foru...topic.php?t=707 and <post#=531098>post 531098</post#>. Maybe version 10 (Windows release date unknown)?

[Howard Kaikow]

Hmmm, I tried posting a response, but it appears to not have made it to the Lounge.

The article you referenced indicates that Stuffit X does support AES.

Also, http://www.stuffit.com/compression/sitxformat.html states that Suffit X is supported on Windows.
Also, I downloaded the Stuffit DEluxe 9 Help which states:

"StuffIt X archives can be created with encryption. There are 4 compression methods supported:



1=RC4 - Supports up to 512bit key lengths.

2=DES - Supports up to 64bit key lengths

3=BlowFish - Supports up to 448bit key lengths

4=AES - Supports up to 256bit key lengths"

[herworth]

Another good zip utility is ZipGenius . I believe it encrypts using AES (among others) and it is also free. I've used it and it's good but the scripting became a little complicated for my needs.

[JoeP517]

The site seems to be up now. I check in the forums and as of TUGZip 3.3.0.0 AES is claimed to be supported. 3.4 is the current version.

Joe

[jscher2000]

Here's a test file for those with various programs installed. Can you read the phrase of the day? The password on the .txt file inside is Howard.

Note to Howard: as far as I can tell, that is not .zip compression but some kind of proprietary format.

[HansV]

Congratulations! (WinZip 9.0)