How to properly unpack a rar archive. A simple archiver for extracting files

To make it easier to transfer folders containing a large number of files over the network, they are subjected to an archiving process, when they are packed into a single file with the maximum degree of information compression. Users who have downloaded this archive unpack it and only after that they get access to all the information and files it contains. Although operating systems Windows Vista and Windows 7 include a built-in program for creating and unpacking archives, it is inferior in its capabilities to third-party archivers such as WinRAR and 7Z.

If you often work with archives, we recommend downloading and installing one of the mentioned programs on your computer - WinRAR or 7Z. It's very easy to work with them.

How to unpack a RAR archive
It should be noted that the WinRAR archiver was created by the talented Russian programmer Evgeniy Roshal, has full support for the Russian language and differs in versions depending on the system you have installed. Download the appropriate archive with the program for your system in the form of an installation file from the official website rarlab.com and install WinRAR on your computer.

After WinRAR installations All archive files on the computer will be associated with this program as the one used to open them by default, and their icons will look like the icon of the archiver itself.

To the context menu when clicked right click mouse on the archive file, the following items will be added: “Extract files”, “Extract to current folder” and “Extract to [archive file name]”.

To the context menu called when you right-click on regular file, which is not inherently an archive, the following items will also be added: “Add to archive”, “Add to archive [file name].rar”, “Add to archive and send by e-mail”, “Add to archive [file name] .rar and send by e-mail.”

Accordingly, now, to unpack any archive, just right-click on it and select “Extract” from the context menu and specify the location where it will be unpacked. To create an archive, you need to click on any file or folder in which a number of files are stored and select the appropriate method of adding to the archive from the context menu. We will not describe the difference between each method, since in practice you yourself will very quickly understand their nuances and find the most convenient option for yourself.

WinRAR is considered one of the best archivers, providing good speed work, high levels of information compression and unpacking of large quantities various formats archives.

How to unpack a 7Z archive
The 7-Zip archiver was developed by Ukrainian programmer Igor Pavlov. On the official website of the program 7-zip.org.ua you also need to select installation file, corresponding to your operating system. After the file is saved, install the program on your computer.

The menu of the program itself is well Russified, but for some reason the context menu is not English language. But it's easy enough to figure out. “Extract files” - unpack files, “Extract Here” - unpack here into the current folder, “Add to archive” - create an archive.

Same as WinRAR this archiver has a large number of supported formats and provides high degree compression. True, in the latter case, you need to make a reservation and say that all archivers good compression It turns out mainly on text-type files. Multimedia files are practically not compressed when packed into an archive by any archiver.

The WinRar archiver is one of the most convenient and easy to use among all existing ones. It comes in handy when you need to send a large folder or a large video that you have created, but there is a size limit. The principle of operation of the archiver is simple: it compresses the file, thereby reducing its size.

And sometimes the opposite situation happens: you downloaded a file from the Internet, but it turned out to be archived. In this case, you also cannot do without an archiver; just run it, and it will unpack everything you need. I propose to discuss all issues related to unpacking in this article.

How to extract a file using WinRar

So, before you start the unpacking process, you need to download the archiver if you have not already done so. Once you have downloaded and installed it, follow my prompts. Select the archive with the mouse and right-click on it. In the dropped context menu there are three lines that relate to the unpacking process, namely: “extract files”, “extract to current folder” and “extract to (archive name)”.

Methods for unpacking an archive

If we click the first line, a window will open, after which we need to specify the path to the folder into which the file will be unpacked, and then click “OK”. You can change the extraction parameters if you wish, but there is no particular need for this.

If you select the “extract to current folder” option, the file will be unpacked to the same place where the archive is located. For example, if you were wondering how to unpack winrar archive, which is located on the desktop, then after clicking this line, the unpacked file will be right there.

And finally, the last, perhaps the most mysterious method of unpacking, is also the easiest. If you select the third line, this means that the program will automatically create a folder with the same name as the archive and unpack the contents there.

By the way, if before unpacking the file you want to check what it contains, double-click on the archive. A window will open in front of you where you can check the contents.

If you wish, you can unpack the files directly from here. To do this, click the “Extract” or “Wizard” button and the unpacking process will automatically begin.

In addition, do not forget that WinRar is ideal for backing up information from your computer.

As you can see, to understand how to unpack winrar file, you don’t have to be a guru in this matter. It’s very easy to do, the main thing is to choose the right one necessary action from those offered in the context menu.

Video to help

Very often there are situations when necessary information in the archive is not available because it is not unpacked. At the same time, an unpleasant message appears: “ archive is damaged" We offer several ways to solve this problem.

You must have the Winrar program installed on your computer.

After all the steps taken, a window will appear in which Winrar will ask whether to treat zip or rar. Choose the type of format in which you have a problematic file. Further indicate the location where to place it, press the button OK.

We wait for the process to complete and try to open the archive as usual. If the file is very large in size, you will have to wait a little. Does not work? Most likely you will have to use other possibilities.

You can also try extract documents in parts from a damaged archive. You will need:

It is, of course, possible that there will be several files or no files at all, but you will at least get those that can be extracted.

In order to increase the likelihood of unpacking, you must, before adding files to the archive, specify recovery information. Especially for very important documents. The procedure will take you a few minutes, but in the future there will be no problems with opening and restoration.

It's not difficult to do this choose the desired object, right-click on it, select “ Add to archive" A window opens in which we put a checkmark next to the item “ Add recovery information».

After that, go to the tab in the same window Additionally. Here you will need to set the recovery percentage, I advise you to set it to more than 3% for positive result. Next, click OK, wait while the utility archives the files

We use 7Zip

If the above mentioned manipulations did not help you in any way, do not hesitate to download a powerful archiver 7Zip. It's free and effective because it supports great amount different formats.

You just need to choose the required version, suitable for your computer, 32 bit version system or 64 bit. Download the program, let's launch. In the window that appears, you need to specify the path to the file that is damaged, click the button Next, as shown in the figure below.

There is another option to recover damaged files using the program RAR Recovery Toolbox.

But I want to warn you right away that the program is paid, if you don’t want to pay, you can look for the Portable version.

The program is very simple to use, understandable, launch it, press the button Next, following all the requirements.

Program Hamster Free Zip Archiver also intended for creating and opening archives. Unlike Winrar, it has a beautiful interface and a clear menu. But it can only create zip and 7z formats. It only unpacks archives in rar format. You can try opening a damaged archive using it. It has been noticed that for most people these attempts are successful.

Files with the .ZIP extension are one of the most common types of archives. Thanks to this, in most operating systems already provided standard means extract zip. So there is no need to search and install additional programs. Right-click on the archive and select “Extract All”. Then a special wizard will open in which you will need to specify the location where the files from the contents of the archive will go. If you don't change anything, this location will be the current folder.

There is also an option “Show extracted files”. If you leave a checkbox next to it, then after extraction an explorer window will open with all the extracted contents.
By the way, it is not necessary to extract files from the archive - you can open it as regular folder and launch the necessary documents directly from there.

Unlike the previous case, RAR will require the installation of third-party programs.
For example, one of such reliable programs as 7-Zip does an excellent job with such archives (and it also supports many other types: 7z, Zip, tar, etc.). You can download this application from the official website and it is completely free.

The program itself is quite simple to manage. To unpack the archive, right-click on it and in the “7-Zip” menu section, click on one of the following items:

• Unpack here – extraction will begin immediately, into the same directory as the archive;
• Unpack to “folder name” – extraction will begin in a folder created here with the same name as the archive. It is best to use this option.

The last two options are the most optimal and do not force a large number actions from the user: just clicked and everything was unpacked. When you select the first option, a window with extraction parameters will appear.
In this window you can specify the appropriate folder into which the unpacking will take place. Here you can also select an option such as “No paths”, in which case all files will be extracted in a solid heap, without the folders in which they were located. When you select “Overwrite”, you can activate the ability to edit files in the archive. But with standard settings, the application will make a request when it is launched.

In addition to using the context menu, you can also use the program window. To launch it, do double click by the archive icon. In the window itself, on top panel, click "Extract".

IN Lately users liked it this application able to work with various RAR and ZIP. It is also free and the experience is quite similar to other applications. When the program is installed on the computer, three additional items will appear in the archive context menu:

• Extract Here – files will be extracted to the same folder as the archive;

Extract to “folder name” – extraction will occur in the folder with the specified name.
As you can see, there are slight similarities with 7-Zip. Although the menu items are in English, the program window has a Russian-language design. If you select the first item, the following window will open:
To extract files, click on “Unzip” and select the appropriate folder.

This popular program often used to extract files from archives with the rar extension. You can download the program directly from the official website of the developers. The main thing is to make sure that you are downloading exactly Russian version. The program is installed very simply, like most similar applications, so there shouldn't be any problems here.

WinRAR is paid program and it has a 40-day free trial period. When this time is over, the program will continue to work and perform its functions, but now a window will pop up asking you to buy a license.

To unpack archives, you need to perform the same steps as in previous programs.
Right-click on the archive file and select one of the following options:

• Extract to current folder – all files will be unpacked to the same place as the archive;

Extract to “folder name” – files will be extracted to specified folder, which will be automatically created in the same directory.
Those who don’t really like to once again select a bunch of parameters can click on one of the last two options. But if you select the first one, a window with extraction options will open, where you can select the folder to unpack the files and a bunch of other parameters.

1. For example, in the “Update Mode” section, there are such parameters.
   Extracting with replacing files - when unpacking, new files will replace similar ones with the same name that were already outside the archive.
2. Extracting and updating files has essentially the same effect, but only those files that are older than those in the archive will be replaced.
3. Updating existing files only – existing files will be updated, and all the others will not even be retrieved. In the “Overwrite mode” section, you can set parameters for the program’s behavior when overwriting files.

In addition, using this window you can unpack damaged archives. After all, if you use standard settings, then the program will generate an error and unpacking will not be possible. But if you check the box next to “Keep on disk” damaged files", then even damaged files will be pulled from the archive.

For example, in the case of music or video, they can be opened. Although this still depends on the extent of their damage in the archive.

You can also extract documents from archives through the main program window. Select everything you need and click on the “Extract” or “Wizard” button.

In some cases, the WinRAR application can also be used to backup important information.

Just keep in mind this small feature: after installing the above applications, standard function to extract archives from ZIP extension may simply disappear from the context menu.

Extracting files from multi-volume archives

Such archives are used for packaging very large volumes information. For example, this is convenient when recording to disk, when everything in one archive simply does not fit on one disk. Multi-volume archive files, in their name, have serial number. Depending on the program, it may take different kind: part1, z02, 003, 004 and further all the way to last file. To unpack such archives, you must have all the parts at once, and they must be located in one folder.

Now we will talk about how to unzip a “rar” file. We will describe for what purposes it was created and used this format. In addition, we will tell you in more detail about programs that can interact with it.

More about the extension

Before we look at how to unpack a “rar” file, we need to understand the definition this concept. The format received a name that is an abbreviation for the phrase Roshal ARchiv, in turn, it comes from the name of the developer Eugene Roshal. It was this person who became the creator of this type of file archives. It should be noted that the “rar” file provides a good level of compression, allows you to set passwords for opening previously packed data, and also makes it possible to divide large materials into small volumes.

This type of archive was introduced by the WinRAR program, but currently many other applications work with the extension, some of which we will talk about in more detail below.

The question of how to unzip a “rar” file suggests two types of answers, because you can achieve the desired effect using full-fledged archivers or applications that exclusively decompress compressed materials. The second solution should be used if you rarely use this extension when working on a computer.

WinRAR

Of course, one of the earliest and most advanced archivers knows the answer to the question of how to unzip the “rar” file. Moreover, the application has versions for 64 and 32-bit Windows operating systems. In addition, there are special editions for many popular platforms. If we talk about the Windows operating system, the archiver is shareware for it.

RAR is far from the only format that is supported by the application; using the program you can work with various types archives. This application can even pack graphic, audio and video files with great efficiency. The program has a smart analyzer that can independently determine the technology, as well as the sequence of file compression.

Hamster

The Hamster application will also tell you how to unpack the rar file. It's about O free archiver, which uses maximum possibilities various multi-core processors. The application has a pleasant interface and support for the Russian language. The level of file compression can be adjusted by three functions: “Maximum”, “Optimal”, “Minimum”.

Thanks to integration into the Explorer menu, the user has fast access to all basic operations, including unpacking archives, as well as packing data without a password.

PeaZip

PeaZip is another rar file decompressor where Special attention devoted to processing various open formats. The application records a detailed log of work at the end of each operation. You can also save the project as plain text, which can be used in scripts. Also available: backup operations, acceleration of archiving, restoration and preservation of archives.

In addition, the application interface can be changed based on the user's wishes. You can even adjust the transparency. The application is portable. At the same time, the version for the Windows operating system is a separate and automated package that makes it possible to integrate the program’s capabilities directly into the Explorer menu.

Universal Extractor

You can also open rar files using the Universal Extractor program. At the same time, this application extracts materials from any type of archives, as well as installers and packages, such as " Windows Installer" You can decompress material regardless of compression method or source.

ExtractNow

You can open the “rar” file using the “ExtractNow” program, because unpacking archives is its the main task. The application supports unpacking multiple archives with one click. The program has an intuitive and easy to use user interface.

To extract files, you need to drag them to the main application window or right-click on necessary files in Windows Explorer. We are talking about powerful and reliable program, which will be useful to all users who manage a lot of compressed materials.

J7Z

Another application that will tell you how to extract a “rar” file is J7Z. A powerful and simple archiver that was created for Windows operating systems and has some new features. The application supports: quick update for an existing archive, backing up a directory for storing materials.

In addition, the program can unpack or create encrypted archives. You can improve the efficiency of your application by creating special profiles archive. The program requires the ". NET Framework", version 2.0.

Other programs

Among other applications that will help solve this problem, “PowerArchiver” should be noted. We are talking about a powerful archiver, which is complemented by a built-in browser, which allows you to upload files to the server or send archives via email.

The program supports hundreds of different functions. Despite this, "PowerArchiver" is small in size and incredibly light and fast to use. Beginners will easily be able to master the operation of this program, as it has an intuitive and simple interface, and there is also an introductory tutorial.

Users can take advantage of all the benefits and versatility of this program. The application has a built-in browser. In addition, PowerArchiver can easily create multi-volume archives. This program has an improved information compression algorithm.

Among the features this decision It should be noted: full support for multiple file formats, encoding of materials using “UUE” and “XXE” technologies, recovery tool damaged archives"ZIP"; an add-on that allows you to simultaneously retrieve multiple projects; View content in various styles, for example as a web page.

The program has the ability to perform many powerful operations on materials. Among them: creating archives, checking them for viruses, writing comments on produced files and full view compressed data, testing and making changes, renaming content. Support for changing skin in the program interface.

There is a built-in text browser and graphic files. The drag-and-drop function is supported “from” or “to” Windows Explorer or to your desktop. Creation of self-extracting encrypted archives.
A special tool allows you to create backup script and run automated copying.

Two options for viewing archives have been implemented. “Classic” involves displaying a list of files. With Explorer, materials are displayed in the same way as in Windows Explorer. Among other things, the user can convert archives from one format to another. If you apply free version, remember the need to register after the end of the trial period (30 days).

Another program that we cannot ignore in this material is called “RarZilla”. It's about free and simple application, which is intended specifically for unpacking archives in the format we are interested in. Now you know how to unzip a “rar” file and what it is for.