[Winzip 15.5] Anyone using it?

Winrar , not Winzip.

 

What exactly do you mean?

User dw426 asked me if they (Winzip) didn't already offer a "free" version... just like Winrar. After I asked why the heck couldn't Winzip have a free version.

One can use Winrar beyond the 40 trial period, with a nagscreen. That much I know and remember.
But, judging by Winzip's screenshot I provided, after the trial period, Winzip will no longer work. So, the only way to have Winzip on perpetual trial is to sandbox it.

 

By the way, does anyone know if current Winrar version allows to create multiple archives from individual files? This was actually one of the reasons that made ditch 7-zip. I hate having to compress everything into a single archive or manually have to compress individual files/folders.

I couldn't tell by looking at the features provided in the website, if Winrar allows it.

I found one that does, though

PowerArchiver. Not free, though. I don't remember if one can also use beyond the evaluation period, with reduced features, etc. I'll have to test it for a while.

Softpedia review.

I don't recall if Winzip has the feature. I'll have to reinstall it again. Forgot to check it.

Peazip, which is based on 7-zip also allows it. I already downloaded it, and will give it a try. Who knows if it's a keeper.

 

Winrar can do that and it works pretty good. Winrar for me is a keeper .

Ps: Sorry , I misunderstood your post =)

 

Thank you and no problem.

 

sigh. Winzip 15.5 paid version .exe has Open Candy in it. More info on avoiding OC is here:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1876871#post1876871

 

Ironically you can extract the installer package with WinRar and run the .msi directly to bypass that crap.

 

Which installer did you get? Was it the exe or the msi? When I downloaded Winzip I got the msi installer, and I wasn't offered any additional software.

Interesting that Softpedia doesn't flag Winzip as being adware. They usually flag such kind of software. They could have missed it, though.

Searching Google for winzip+opencandy results in nothing useful.

Are you sure it bundles it?

 

I got the .exe, unfortunately I don't recall the exact sequence of where/what page, except that I'm 99% positive I downloaded from a link in the "thank you for purchasing" e-mail. This installer is not a "registered version" though, it still needs to have the registered name and activation code input.

NOD32 doesn't find anything when the .exe is scanned from a right-click File Explorer context menu, so I didn't see it first time with the install, but after a system restore I did a full NOD system scan and it showed up then.

Following xxJackxx's tip I installed WinRAR and it clearly shows the OC...dll in the file. Big Thanks to xxJackxx!

 

This is where I downloaded from:

http://www.winzip.com/dprob.htm (Just in case.)

 

There are two packages (exe & msi) and, like in the case of CCleaner, Nero, etc, Softpedia hosts the clean, adware-free package, so no reason to list it with the ad-supported flag.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

@ all

Indeed, the exe version comes dirty - OpenCandy.

Interesting that a search in Google has no results. I'd expect a well known application to be reported as bundling adware.

Anyway, as user xxJackxx mentioned, you can extract the contents of the exe file or you can simply use the msi installer instead. It comes clean.

But, it's not ironic that you can extract the exe with Winrar and ditch OpenCandy. You can extract it with whatever you want. lol

 

The 14.0 and 14.5 .exe files obtained mid-2010 didn't have OC in it; I don't know whether 15.0 did, or how recently 15.5 was released, so maybe Winzip has just recently gone down the path toward the "dark side".

 

According to this Softpedia page, it was released, at least, in June.

Anyway, are sales really that bad on their side? I suppose that most free alternatives are more than what most people need, so... turning to the dark side does make some sense...

I've been using Winzip a bit... and was not that impressed by it. On the other hand, PowerArchiver does seem to be a great one. And, it does offer the feature to compress individual files/folders to individual archives. From what I could see, Winzip lacks that feature.

I mean, they are side by side in what comes to compression. In the end, it's all about this or that feature that the user may need, and whether or not the user uses the GUI quite often, and if he/she finds it of easy use or not.

That's pretty much it, isn't it? lol (Excluding bugs, that make one work more flawed than the other. lol)

 

Does WinZip have a 64 bit version? I thought I might as well ask.

 

They're no mention on their website, that I could find. But, there's no mention about 32 bit either.

Softpedia mentions both versions. So, the installer is the same for 32 bit and 64 bit.

 

My 15.5, when installed on a 64-bit system, installed in Program Files x86, so afaik that's indicative of a 32-bit only app. It certainly didn't offer any choice in the install of the "extracted" .msi file.

 

7-zip works well for me, even on incomplete archives. I just copy the file.

 

I really can't decide which one is a keeper. I've been trying both WinZip and PowerArchiver (both latest versions) once in a while, and from what I could spot so far, the main differences, feature-wise, resume to this:

Winzip:

If we open the application's menu, press New, we'll be able to create either a normal compressed file or to split it in multiple parts, right from there.

From what I could see, so far, there's no way to extract multiple archives by running a batch job/compressed multiple files by running a batch job, from the UI. Unless the option is very well hidden. According Winzip support page, you can unzip multiple archives, using right-click drag and drop, but only for Zip files. -http://kb.winzip.com/kb/entry/77/


PowerArchiver:

If we open the application's menu, press New, we'll only be able to create a normal compressed file. We need to go to Tools > Volumes > Write Multi-Volume ZIP

We can compress multiple files into different archives and extract different archives at once, by using batch jobs. PowerArchiver presents no error while loading archives that are not in Zip format, but it either it's buggy or doesn't work, at all, because they won't extract. *edit: Rar files do extract; forgot to mention it. So, it probably is a bug in PowerArchiver; I'm going to send them an e-mail.


I gave PeaZip a run, and while decent, and it also allows extraction of multiple archives and compression of multiple files, the localization of the program is simply awful. There are parts that are still in English, because it's impossible to translate those strings. In what comes to localization, it's a half baked application, IMHO. I do like it, though.

Maybe, I'll keep them both, running inside Sandboxie. lol

 

I just came across UltimateZip (trial version; not sure if you can keep it after 30-day trial, though.).

The installer is 4.515 KB. -http://www.ultimatezip.com/

It allows multiple extraction and compression; UI similar to Winzip UI (non-Ribbon); it allows the blocking of potentially malicious files, by blocking extensions. The security setting is not password protected, though.

 

How do you like it? I have a free version of 5.0.1 that I got from a magazine which I never got around to trying out. I used to use it in the Win 9x days (at the time they had a free version). It was OK, but not really competition for WinZip or PKZip, which ruled the roost back then.

 

I haven't tried it. I just installed it in Sandboxie, and then took a screenshot to show the Security tab.

Maybe in a few weeks I'll see how it behaves, features and bugs.

I could be wrong, but I think that, nowadays, the differences in the compression tools lie in both their features and more or less bugs. Bugs are always annoying.

I do consider that for some people the Security feature could be a plus. Too bad it doesn't allow to password protect it.

 

I've tried countless archivers over the years and come to the same conclusion. Buggy archivers aren't just annoying, they can also hose your data. I think you're best off sticking to the long-established ones, like WinRAR, WinZip or PKZip. Like any software, they probably have their bugs as well, but no showstoppers.

 

WinZip 16 is released and comes in a native 64 bit version. At least according to them. I haven't tried it. All of their new products (v16, Courier 3.5) seem to be an advertisement for their new "ZipSend" service, which requires recurring fees to maintain.

I believe WinRar and PowerArchiver still sell lifetime personal licenses. You can buy either one once or WinZip once a year. Getting tired of the WinZip thing, not upgrading.

-Also my experience with Ultimate Zip was not good enough I would pay for it. It was free at one time. It is now paid and is no good after the trial. It seems to be a one man project and I remember a period of several months he did not respond on the forums. Unless things have changed I would want better support from a paid product.

 

PowerArchiver released a free version as well, back in 2010.
http://www.powerarchiver.com/2010/07/01/powerarchiver-free-happy-4th-of-july/

Other good freeware compression programs:
HaoZip
http://www.haozip.com/Eng/index_en.htm

KuaiZip
http://www.kuaizip.com/en/