WinRAR - RAR Compression Tool

Part:   1  2  3  4 

(Continued from previous part...)

6. Run Start > Accessories > Windows Explorer.

7. Locate a directory name that you want to compress into a RAR file.

8. Right mouse click on the directory name. The context menu shows up. You should see a number WinRAR menu items in the menu list.

9. Select the "Add to <folder>.rar" menu item. The selected directory will be compressed into a RAR file. The new RAR file will be located in the current directory.

10. Delete the compressed directory and keep the RAR file.

11. Locate the newly created RAR file and right mouse click on the RAR file name.

12. Select the "Extract here" menu item. The compressed directory will be extract out of the RAR file.

Compressing Files into ZIP Format

WinRAR can be used to compress files into ZIP files. Here are the steps to test this.

1. Run WinRAR and navigate the directory where your files are located.

2. Select the files and/or directories that you want to add to a RAR file and select menu "Commands" > "Add files to archive". The "Archive name and parameters" dialog box shows up.

3. Select ZIP as the "Archive format".

4. Enter c:\temp\test_rar.zip in "Archive name" field, and finish up the archiving process.

5. Exit WinRAR.

6. Run WinZip and open c:\temp\test_rar.zip. You should see the compressed files in WinZip window.

Running WinRAR in a Command Window

WinRAR also support command line operations. This is important to allow users to incorporate WinRAR commands into automated scripts. Here is a simple script I used to backup a directory, backup.bat:

@rem backup.bat
@rem Usage: backup directory zipfile password

\local\winrar\winrar a -afzip -r -p%3 %2.zip %1\*.*

My restore script is also very simple, restore.bat:

@rem restore.bat
@rem Usage: restore zipfile password

\local\winrar\winrar x -p%2 %1.zip .\

Note that:

• Command "a" is to create archive files.
• Option "-afzip" is to create archive files in ZIP format.
• Option "-r" is to take input files recursively to include sub-directories.
• Option "-p*" is to add password protection to archive files.
• Command "x" is to extract files out of archive files.

For complete description of the command line interface of WinRAR, see the WinRAR help document.

Conclusion

• WinRAR displays normal files and RAR files together in a tree structure. This is very convenient to navigate through the file system and locate files.
• Context menu options are nice short cuts to create or extract RAR files.
• Password protection is a good feature to help you protect your privacy.
• WinRAR allows you compress files in ZIP format.
• Command line operation is very useful to archive files in automated scripts.
• Multi-volume support is also very useful to move files on diskettes.

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