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PA 2023 22.00.08
Long time no seeing. So I start up the new year with a first problem : the virtual driver cannot be installed. Reason : it is missing in the Fast Ring PatchBeam Update Service…
Virtual driver PA 2023-01-28 152607.png
It seems a standard problem with new releases :-)
Can I have a link or can it be fixed. Thank you. CU later -
When the function for testing archives is invoked via the shell context menu (PowerArchiver > Test) then all the files in the archive get extracted to the current folder.
The test dialog reports as many errors as there are files in the archive but it fails to give any hint as to which files are supposed to be erroneous or what the nature of the problem might be. Comparing the extracted files to the originals shows no differences at all.
The .7z in question was produced with maximised compression settings in 7zip (taking forever but resulting in smaller archives than .7z produced by PowerArchiver with maximised settings). Therefore I wanted to see whether PowerArchiver can at least test .7z that it produced itself. Hence I had PowerArchiver convert a .pa with the same contents to .7z. There weren’t any errors reported but the resulting .7z contained fewer than half of the files contained in the .pa (137 of 366), so I scratched that test.
Performance is abysmal when testing via the context menu (e.g. almost 2 minutes for testing a .7z that 7zip tests in 4 seconds), but that is most likely due to the fact that the extracted files are written to disk. Testing the same .7z in the PowerArchiver GUI takes only 8 seconds but causes the mysterious appearance of a UAC dialog, as reported elsewhere.
The testing function is vital because PowerArchiver has a history of producing archives that it cannot unpack without errors or that do not conform to the respective file format standards (e.g. ZIP) so that other programs report them as erroneous.
The point of creating archives is that the files in them will most likely have to be extracted at some point. If the extraction cannot be guaranteed to produce correct results then the whole program is absolutely pointless. Actually, worse than pointless - it causes data loss and hence damage.
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In PowerArchiver 2023 22.00.06 configuration, the option labelled “Start PowerArchiver 2023 Starter when my computer starts” seems to be redundant.
I am only allowed to change this option when PA Starter is disabled, and then it seems to be ignored.
When I enable PA Starter this option is forced to the enabled state.
I think it’d be good to remove “Start PowerArchiver 2023 Starter when my computer starts” completely. I’ve always found it confusing having both options.
Added later: However i don’t particularly want to use queue but I do like having the PAStarter icon in my tray area.
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W10 Pro 22H2 - 64 -bit
PA 22.00.06 (PA 2023)
It has been the case with previous versions of PowerArchiver, but I had hoped that the latest might behave differently. Not so, I’m afraid.
I have, for various obscure reasons, created a few .pa archives, mainly in the hope that they will save me some more space. From time to time, I use the “Test” option to check that important archives are OK and uncorrupted.
With every .pa archive I’ve tested, the process runs through OK but then reports that there are errors. This is always the number of files in the archive e.g. if 11 files, then 11 errors reported.
In the .pa, I can:-
preview the files (usually PDF) extract some or all files and look at or use them convert the .pa to a .zip or .zipx archive, which then works fine and tests without errorsIs it the case that the Test routine isn’t designed for .pa archives, or is there another reason? Although the .pa seems to function properly, despite the test reporting errors, I would like to be sure that every .pa is OK and not “broken”.
Some of the .pas are quite old and produced with earlier PA versions (they are truly “archives”). If I extract all the files in the old .pa, create a new, fresh .pa and add back the files to that, then test the new, no errors (at least in the .pa I’ve tried this on) are reported. This would suggest a mismatch between old .pas and newer versions of PA itself.
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PA 21.00.18 running on Windows 7 64 bit.
I made a big .PA file and thought I’d check it was made correctly with Menu / Actions / Test.
Discovered:
a) PA always issues a UAC prompt to do this!
b) PA always says there are many errors in PA files. -
Clipboard02.jpg
See the, supposedly, blank space where the green box is? It’s like that in Modern Light theme too. I can toggle it, but it’s missing text or shouldn’t be there I guess?
Thanks :)
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Dear @Alpha-Testers and all of our users,
time has come for testing of PowerArchiver and PACL for macOS.
Please let us know here if you have Mac and can test latest builds.Features implemented:
PowerArchiver 2020 - tabbing, opening, extracting, adding, testing, favorite folders, support for multiple languages, opening via Finder, explorer mode, installer.
PACL 10 - support for most formats and features in Windows version.Upcoming: Tools such as archive converter, batch zip, multi-extract.
To start testing, please sign up here in this thread, and we will send you latest build.
thank you!
Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h54m56s_008_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h55m05s_009_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h55m14s_010_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h55m30s_011_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h55m39s_012_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h55m49s_013_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h56m00s_014_.png Ashampoo_Snap_Wednesday, November 20, 2019_12h54m43s_007_.png
76e97ab9-8d75-4175-9ce8-446500031f38-image.png
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For some reason, the PowerArchiver functions in the Windows 11 context menu no longer work after the last Windows Update. Only the functions in the classic context menu function as they should.
I’ve tried uninstalling PowerArchiver and using RevoUninstaller to remove all bits and pieces that were left behind and did a clean install of PowerArchiver, it didn’t fix the issue. Other items in the Windows 11 context menu work.
Self Extracting Encrypted Archive
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I was hasty creating a self extracting encrypted archive at one point. I may not be able to get to the original files. The file size is over 4GB and Windows XP indicates that it is not a valid format. Is there a way to manually access this file of course assuming one supplies the correct password?
I did try to rename the extension to .pae but PA gives a message about unknown encryption method.
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Hi Atmoverse
1st thing you need to do is atempt to fix the file in order for PA to recognise the format/encryption once you have done that then try entering the apparent password.
However, on the chance the algorithm’s have been damaged due to a “hasty” creation or another reason then unfortunatly the bad news is it will be difficult and pritty much impossible to know where to start.
ie… the container code which instructs applications such as pa on how to read the data or the encryption method.
Hope you do find a way and if so let us know.
“Good Luck”
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What do you mean by fix? THe only option i find relating to that is to fix a zip file. This is an encrypted, self extracting executable.
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Sometimes you can fix a self extracting file via windows notepad as I have in the past. But most the time if the file is badly currupt then its a no win situation.
Unfortunetely, the fix function in PA wont work on such a file.
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we will see - you might be able to strip the .exe header, if that is possible. As you know by now, windows file system limit for executable files is 4GB.
Did you try opening the archive in PowerArchiver?
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Tried Hex editing the beginning of the file with some test files but was not successful. These were about 4MB. When I renamed the file from *.exe to *.pae it seems to see the file within PA but gives a message about unknown encryption method. I was going to try adding the name of the encryption method similar to a normal .PAE file.
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did you simply try opening .exe file with PA? I am not sure if that was ever added
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The way the information is encoded seems different so no go there for now though the SHA-1 hash for the password is the same.
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I got it with a smaller test file.
Use the part from a .pae file using the same encryption method and password. The file name matters not. Take the beginning of the .PAE file including the seemingly blank space “0D0A0D0A”. I was leaving this as “00000000” originally. Add the part starting with SHA-1 from the .EXE file and save the combined as a .PAE file and voila. I’ll have to try the larger file later tonight. Heading over to visit family and watch President Bush on Deal or No Deal. -
I Heading over to visit family and watch President Bush on Deal or No Deal.
Now that will be good Entertainment! :D
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:) He had pre-recorded a message for a soldier that had been on three tours through Iraq. The guy won $78K.
Now back to our regular programming:
What one has to do assuming one knows the password:
1. Create a “.PAE” file with the same encryption method. The password HASH from the executable file matters. Even using the same password, the hashes can differ and PA would think it is the wrong password.
2. Take the header of the “.PAE” file ending at the end of "SHA-1 ". The space is “20” in hex. Copy this into the beginning of the executable file.
3. Cut/Delete the portion after the newly pasted "SHA-1 " up until the end of the "SHA-1 " the was originally in the “.EXE” file.
4. Erase all but 4 bytes of emtpy space “00000000” after the hash in the “.EXE” file.
5. Rewrite the remaining 4 bytes of empty space to “0D0A0D0A”. “0D0A” is used as a separator.
6. Save the file as “something.pae”.The name indicated in the beginning of the file does not matter though it will become the name of the decrypted file.
I used HxD Hex Editor which can handle files larger than 4GB. Not all hex editors can.
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good, good… I am glad you figured it out.
thanks
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Is it possible to have PA warn the user when the file size may go above 4GB for an executable? That way they will be made aware that there may be an issue for them?
