WinRAR 2.71: Super File Compressor

Rarsoft's $US35 WinRAR 2.71 compresses massive files, or whole hard disks full of them, into single-file or multifile archives that are more compact than .zip files. Many binary files, including .mp3 and .jpg files, are already compressed; but others, such as text (.txt or .rtf) and executables (.exe), aren't. The .zip archive format is widely supported and works fine for posting files online, but bits of files may get lost as they move from server to server. It's better to post large files-especially video and software-in multiple parts.

In my informal tests using Normal compression settings, WinRAR was able to squish folders containing text files, Word files, Acrobat files, digital images, and applications into a file about 90 percent the size of the equivalent file compressed by WinZip 8, though WinRAR did take noticeably longer. WinRAR integrates with Windows Explorer, so you can extract the contents of a WinRAR archive simply by double-clicking the .rar file. The utility automatically decodes the contents of multifile archives as well.

Download the 589KB, 40-day evaluation version of WinRAR from www.rarsoft.com or get it off our cover CD. If you choose not to buy WinRAR, you can still use the freeware UnRAR.exe command-line utility that comes with the evaluation version to decode RAR archives you encounter on the Internet.