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WinRAR, RAR, and other flavors FAQs.
FAR File Archive Manager FAQs.
Buying Online FAQs.
WinRAR,
RAR and other flavors FAQs
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RAR Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Copyright 1994-99
Eugene Roshal. All rights reserved.
11-January-2000
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Published by Eugene Roshal with assistance from the users of RAR, UNRAR,
related utilities, and the RAR support sites. This document may be freely
distributed for non-commercial and information purposes. This
document
may not, under any circumstance, be traded, sold, or otherwise used for
commercial gain or purposes without prior written consent of Eugene
Roshal.
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Questions listed in this FAQ:
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Q: Are there parts of your product which are shipped as *freeware*
(like unrar.exe) or as *shareware* (like rar.exe)
Q: I am interested in the source code of the Win32-GUI unrar tool,
'ZIP.SFX'.
Q: When I download a RAR archive using Netscape Navigator or communicator,
the file is corrupt, what's wrong?
Q: While I can see that RAR is a great program with a terrific user
interface, there appear to be no facilities available to convert
my
existing archived files to RAR format.
Q: RAR incorporates a number of different compression "methods", what
are
the advantages and disadvantages of using them and which one would
you
recommend for daily use?
Q: I've heard a lot about "Solid" archives. What are they and
how can I use
them?
Q: How could a user of my BBS (E-mail system, FTP server etc) extract
files from RAR archives while RAR is shareware and one must
register
after a 40 day evaluation period?
Q: I use "inspect" to examine mail packets, but it has no built-in
support
for RAR. How can Inspect be configured to 'see' into RAR
files?
Q: The Maximus BBS software does not supply a viewer which is capable
of viewing RAR files. how can this problem be overcome?
Q: Why the two-color progress bar disappeared since RAR 2.00 is released.
Q: I failed to extract files from a solid multivolume RAR archive because
one archive volume was damaged (bad floppy diskette). Help me!
Questions and Answers:
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Q: Are there parts of your product which are shipped as *freeware*
(like unrar.exe) or as *shareware* (like rar.exe)
A: There are two freeware programs in the WinRAR distributive:
unrar.exe and rcvt.exe. All other programs, including SFX modules
are under the shareware license.
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Q: I am interested in the source code of the Win32-GUI unrar tool,
'ZIP.SFX'.
A: Sorry, no. The sources of the SFX modules are not distributed.
On the other hand, unzip source is freely available.
Visit the InfoZIP page for details:
http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/
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Q: When I download a RAR archive using Netscape Navigator or communicator,
the file is corrupt, what's wrong?
A: Apache HTTP server erroneously reports the RAR archive type as
text/plain and as a result, Netscape Navigator/Communicator treats
the file as plain text. To prevent this happening, those
webmasters,
who use Apache, should create .htaccess file in each directory
which
has RAR archives and add the following string to it:
AddType application/x-rar-compressed rar
If .htaccess already exists, this string should be added to the
already existing file.
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Q: While I can see that RAR is a great program with a terrific user
interface, there appear to be no facilities available to convert
my
existing archived files to RAR format.
A: You are using an older version of RAR than 1.54 which includes it's
own conversion utility called RCVT. This utility is FREE for
RAR
users and will handle most of your file conversion needs, including
the updating of you FILES.BBS lists.
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Q: RAR incorporates a number of different compression "methods", what
are
the advantages and disadvantages of using them and which one would
you
recommend for daily use?
A: RAR contains 6 different methods of compressing files, which one you
use would depend upon your requirements. i.e. how much you
demand the
file be compressed balanced against how much time you are willing
to
devote to the compression process. There is always a
trade-off and the
final choice must be yours. Our recommendation is to leave
compression
as "Normal" unless you have good reason to change
it.
Store
No compression is used at all, the files are simply
collected into the archive. This method is quite fast
and is useful for simply copying files from one place
to another.
Fastest The fastest
compression method is applied. This is
slower than the "store" method.
Fast A slightly better
compression method is used, resulting
in a smaller file.
Normal A
better compression method is used to achieve (almost)
optimal compression, at a slight cost in time.
Good A better compression
method gains another increase of
(0.1 - 0.3%)
Best Uses the best
compression method of all at the cost of
20% - 100% more time, for the purists only.
Here are the results of a compression test:
Method used Time taken
% Compressed size %
-m0
6.64 37.9
354262 100.00
-m1
17.52 100.0
270534 76.37
-m2
17.61 100.5
269431 76.05
-m3
18.18 103.8
268314 75.74
-m4
19.22 116.6
268123 75.68
-m5
20.43 119.7
268091 75.68
As you can see, as the packing method improves, the time
required
increases, but the increase in time is proportionally much greater
than
the gain acheived. This why the default and recommended
method is set
to -m3
If you wish to obtain the 'ultimate' compression from RAR,
without
regard for the time taken, then the best general set of rules
would
be:
.. Use the -s -m5 and -ds switches
.. Use the @ command with a file containing a list of the
files to
be archived.
.. Create the list of files to be archived using the
following
rule: all files should be 'grouped'
according to file contents
(ANSI-code, ASCII source, binary,
executable, etc)
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Q: I've heard a lot about "Solid" archives. What are they and
how can I use
them?
A: It has been well known, for a long time, that one method of increasing
the efficiency of compression, was to copy all the files to be
compressed
into a single file, before compressing them. This is called
creating a
"Solid" file before compressing. There are programs
around which indeed
perform this operation and act as a pre-processor to another
archiver.
RAR handles this function internally and invisibly to the user, it
simply "sees" all files together as a single data stream,
with the
end result that the final output is significantly smaller than it
would
otherwise be. The gain to be had from this type of archive
can be
significant and can be 10% - 60% of the size of the original
archive.
As with any other gain, there is a price to be paid and that price
should
be taken into consideration before creating a "Solid"
archive. The best
way to understand if using a solid archive is best for you is to
answer
the following questions:
Q: How often are you going to update or modify the archive?
A: Probably never .. Use
a solid archive
Rarely
.. Use a solid archive
Frequently ..
Use a normal archive
Q: Are you using RAR as a packer for an electronic mail system?
A:
Yes
.. Use a solid archive
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Beware that to extract a file from solid archive RAR scans the
whole
archive from the beginning.
If you are using RAR to store archives to some unreliable storage
media
(e.g. floppy disks, streamer tapes etc.) you should better use
normal,
non solid mode. And you definetely should use the recovery option.
It is impossible to extract files after damaged place in the solid
archive. However in some cases special recovery information helps
to
rebuild the damaged archive if it is stored to the archive (the
recovery option was on, the '-rr' switch or 'rr' command applied).
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Q: How could a user of my BBS (E-mail system, FTP server etc) extract
files from RAR archives while RAR is shareware and one must
register
after a 40 day evaluation period?
A: The RAR distribution archive contains a free unRAR utility, UNRAR.EXE,
which can be used, without paying a license fee, by anyone wanting
to
extract archives created by RAR. As an additional BONUS to
this, the
source code of a portable unRAR is included with RAR version above
1.53
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Q: I use "inspect" to examine mail packets, but it has no built-in
support
for RAR. How can Inspect be configured to 'see' into RAR
files?
A: Although Inspect does not contain built-in support for RAR, the problem
can be solved by making RAR support Inspect instead. Load RAR
and
configure the external viewer to be Inspect.
On an archive that RAR recognises, pressing return on the archived
file
will open it up, and then hitting F3 will call up Inspect to view
the
files. On (say) an ARC, hitting F3 on the archive will call
up Inspect
which will open the archive and allow you to view the
contents. This
technique has been shown to work on RAR, ARJ, ZIP, ARC and LZH
mail
archives.
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Q: The Maximus BBS software does not supply a viewer which is capable
of viewing RAR files. how can this problem be overcome?
A: Janis Kracht in Fidonet Zone 1 provides us with the following MECCA
script which can solve the problem:
[Comment RAR Contents Viewer by Janis Kracht 7-26-95]
[ifexist]c:\max\RARFILE.BBS [delete]C:\Max\RARFILE.BBS
[/l3][cls][ckoff][clear_stacked]
[lightcyan][cls][locate 1 1]Name of file to view (NO
extension):
[yellow][readln]
[ifentered] [goto L3]
[ifexist]%Q\%J.RAR [goto doit]
Can't find the file! Try again? (Y/n)[menu]yn|
[choice]| [goto l3]
[choice]y [goto l3]
[choice]n [goto endit]
[/doit][xtern_dos]rar l %Q\%J.RAR > RARFILE.ANS
[xtern_dos]c:\max\ans2bbsp RARFILE
[moreon]
[link]RARFILE.BBS
[/endit][exit]
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Q: Why the two-color progress bar disappeared since RAR 2.00 is released.
Why no more compression ratio after every file processed is
displayed.
A: Because of the new improved compression implementation in RAR 2.00,
now it is impossible to show ratio for every file.
The new algorithm treats groups of files and RAR has no information
to
show as compression result (compression ratio) for particular file
while
the whole file group processing is not completed.
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Q: I failed to extract files from a solid multivolume RAR archive because
one archive volume was damaged (bad floppy diskette). Help me!
A: First of all, you should use RAR recovery option (-rr) when storing
archives onto not reliable media as the floppies are. Generally, it
is
not recommended to create solid archives in this case, use the
normal
(non solid) mode instead. You should be aware, that to extract
files from
a particular solid volume RAR scans the whole set of previous
archive
volumes (.rar or .exe, .r00, .r01 etc).
Steps of recovering process if you have damaged volume of solid
archive:
1) Try to repair the damaged volume (the 'r' option, 'repair'
command).
It helps sometimes if RAR recovery was used when
creating archive.
Rename recovered volume _recover.rar to the
actual volume name and
try to process your archive from the first volume
to the newly
recovered (if recovery were not used, RAR builds
_reconst.rar).
2) If previous procedure was not to any avail, then,
unfortunately,
chances to restore files are reduced. You should
have source files
contained in damaged volume (from the file where
archive is broken
upto the end of the volume). And, you should
extract all files from
all volumes until the CRC error in damaged place.
Re-create volumes of the archive including
damaged one, calling
RAR with the same options and archiving all files
in the same order
as when you created the archive for the first
time.
If after that you are able to extract files from next volumes,
you
should say a hundred times "Thank you, my Lord!! I will never
use again
bad floppies, nor store multivolume solid archive to them without
the
recovery option when there is a bare suspicion (0.000000001 percent
of
possibility) that the storage media is unreliable".
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FAR - File Archive Manager FAQs
Hints and FAQ.
[1] How to save FAR properties
[2] How to switch keyboard to national language
[3] Why FAR does not accept Windows 95 clipboard pasting
[4] How to make panels half-screen
[5] How to switch panels time format to 12-hour
[6] How to show seconds in file time
[7] How to show all folders in uppercase
[8] I want wide panel with 4 name columns
[9] I want network names and disk labels in "Change drive" menu
[10] Why is screen output slow
[11] How to resume broken FTP transfer
[12] Is it secure enough to save FTP passwords in FTP list
[13] How to calculate folder size
[14] How to view SFX archive contents
[15] Why <...> archiver does not work correctly
[16] How to move FAR settings to another computer
[17] Where can I find the latest FAR version
[18] Why FAR does not run again after executing some programs under NT
[1] How to save FAR properties
This is not problem for NT, but Windows 95 does not
save console
application properties. You can solve this problem by the following
way: create batch file FAR.BAT and run FAR.EXE from it. Windows 95
saves batch file properties, so it is most universal and easy way,
but it reduces memory available for DOS applications by few Kb.
To avoid it, you can later try to replace "FAR.BAT" with
"FAR.EXE"
in the "Cmd line" parameter of the FAR.BAT properties.
[2] How to switch keyboard to national language
Under Windows 95 it is performed in the same way as
with DOS
applications, so your DOS keyboard driver must be loaded (a Windows
standard one, or any other).
Switching languages under Windows NT is similar to
other Windows
(not DOS!) applications and requires Windows support for desired
language to be installed.
[3] Why FAR does not accept Windows 95 clipboard pasting
If you wish to use Windows 95 Paste function within
FAR,
uncheck the "Fast pasting" option in the FAR properties.
Do not forget that in most cases FAR can paste text itself,
using Shift-Ins key and copy using Ctrl-Ins or screen grabber (Alt-Ins).
[4] How to make panels half-screen
Use Ctrl-Up and Ctrl-Down to change panels height.
[5] How to switch panels time format to 12-hour
Select desired panel view mode using "File panel
modes"
command from "Options" menu and increase width of time or
date and time columns by 1.
[6] How to show seconds in file time
Similar to the previous item, but width must be
increased by 3.
Moreover, if you are using NTFS file system and wish to see milliseconds,
you can achieve it increasing time column width by 7. Of course, after
such operation may be necessary to correct other columns types
and widths to fit all information in screen.
[7] How to show all folders in uppercase
Select desired panel view mode using "File panel
modes" command
from "Options" menu and select "Show folders in uppercase".
Read online
help to get description of other options of this dialog.
[8] I want wide panel with 4 name columns
Use Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right when command line is empty
to change
panels width proportions.
"File panel modes" command from
"Options" menu allows you to modify
or completely change view mode settings. For example, to create 4 file
name columns enter column types N,N,N,N and column widths 0,0,0,0.
All column types are described in the online help.
[9] I want network names and disk labels in "Change drive" menu
You can do it with Ctrl-2 and Ctrl-3. Ctrl-1 switches
disk types
displaying, Ctrl-4 - file system, Ctrl-5 - total and free disk size,
Ctrl-6 - displaying of removable disks information, Ctrl-7 - displaying
plugin commands. Using Del in this dialog you can unmap network drives.
[10] Why is screen output slow
Windows implementation of Win32 console applications
screen
output is not too fast...
[11] How to resume broken FTP transfer
Restart transfer and select "Resume" choice
in the "File already
exists..." prompt. But this feature is correctly supported by only
a part of FTP servers.
[12] Is it secure enough to save FTP passwords in FTP list
Definitely no! Passwords are stored in the registry and
slightly
encrypted, but FAR sends them to server in plain text, so they
can be decrypted with local FTP server. Also passwords can be used
even without decrypting.
Do not store your FTP passwords if somebody else has
access
to your registry information. Enter them directly before connection.
[13] How to calculate folder size
Press F3 on the folder name. If you need to get sizes
of several folders, select all of them before pressing F3.
[14] How to view SFX archive contents
Press Ctrl-PgDn on the SFX name.
[15] Why <...> archiver does not work correctly
To process archives archive support plugin calls
external tools.
Archiver commands, switches and behaviour may depend from archiver
version. Try to enable the "Do not hide archivers output" option
in the archive support plugin configuration dialog and look to archiver
error messages to identify invalid switches. You can edit archive
command lines using the "Archive support: command lines" item
of "Plugins configuration" menu. Read online help before editing to
get
special variables description.
Another problem is long file names support by archiver.
If you have choice you should use archiver version which supports
long file names. For example, use console RAR for Win32 instead
of RAR for DOS.
If your RAR version understands -r0 (release RAR/Win32
2.00)
replace "-r" with "-r0" for RAR "Add" and
"Move" commands.
[16] How to move FAR settings to another computer
Use SaveSettings.bat and RestoreSettings.bat files
from the distributive.
[17] Where can I find the latest FAR version
Look into Far_Site.txt.
[18] Why FAR does not run again after executing some programs under NT
Such problem really exists with programs, leaving TSR
part
in memory. To fix it add NTCMDPROMPT command to
config.nt.
Online Registration FAQs
This section will be regularly updated as new questions and answers
are posted over time.
Q: How long does it take to get my
key when I buy online with www.rararchiver.com?
A: Normally, you will have your key
back to you within 12 hours. Due to a high volume of fraud, we
are unable to use an automated processing system, and hand process
each and every order. Once the information has been verified,
the keyfile is requested from overseas, and then sent back to
us. There are times when, due to circumstances beyond our
control, it may take longer. Once our system receives your
order, you will receive a confirmation email indicating that your
request made it here, and will be processed.
Q: I need to buy a copy of FAR for my
company. Can you provide this?
A: Yes, FAR is sold under the same terms and conditions as RAR; only
pricing
is different.
Q: May I use my Telephone Number for the authenticity verification
(AV) user name string?
A: No. We would advise very much against that as telephone numbers change.
The following items are not permited into an AV code:
.. Telephone number or fax number
.. Street address
.. FidoNet node number
.. Internet address
All of the above are subject to change beyond your control.
Q: Why did I receive 2 keys with my registration of WinRAR?
A: Due to a change in technologies, our registration key system
changed. The DOS key file is part of the older scheme, and still works
with the older DOS products, as well as Linux, and MAC. The newer key file
that was created for WinRAR allows registration to occur just from copying the
file RARREG.KEY into the C:\Program Files\WinRAR directory.
Q: I have several operating systems
on 1 computer that I boot between. Do I have to have a
seperate key for each OS?
A: No. If you have Windows 2000,
Linux, and DOS on the same computer and you boot between them, you
do not need to re-register each OS. If you had OS/2 and Windows
2000 on the same computer that you booted between, you would have
to buy seperate keys, as they are different.
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