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    • PA 21.00.18 testing via context menu causes extraction of files

      D

      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.

      Tech Support
    • Start PowerArchiver 2023 Starter when my computer starts

      Brian Gregory

      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.

      Tech Support
    • Testing .pa archives

      PA_Fan

      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 errors

      Is 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.

      Tech Support
    • PA 21.00.18 Action / Test behaves oddly for me on .PA files

      Brian Gregory

      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.

      Tech Support
    • Small UI / Theme bug in 2023

      Z

      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 :)

      Tech Support
    • PowerArchiver and PACL for macOS

      spwolf

      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

      Tech Support
    • Functions in Windows 11 context menu no longer work after last Windows Update

      T

      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.

      Tech Support

    Damaged Archive

    Tech Support
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    • V
      Vazebest last edited by

      Hi guys!

      I encrypted some files with password and after a little whilte tried to add 5 more files to the existing *.pae archive. Everything went fine and at the end I was asked if I want to save the changes to the old archive (with the new added files). Confirmed……and then NOT RESPONDING…and then when I tried to open the archive it thinks a little while, says decrypting and then stops and a message comes WRONG PASSWORD. And the password is correct. Is there a way to fix the archive now and save at least some of the files? I now that if it was .zip it would be possible to repair, but what about *.pae ?!? Please help! Thanks in advance to everyone!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • RJWaring
        RJWaring last edited by

        I’ve heard this kinda problem a few times ref encrypted archive’s & .pae’s being corrupted due to a crash during loading/exporting.

        And unfortunetly, I am not aware of anyone or any means to recover them nor from my knowlege does PowerArchiver have a tool that can repair their own format.

        I’m no conexware devleloper and with the latest version of PA being released soon its possible there have been some developments within that area.

        I wouldnt hold my hopes up. Sorry I couldnt give you any good advice.

        This is why I backup my files using online sources, thus if something goes wrong I can atleast revert to a historic version.

        V spwolf 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • V
          Vazebest @RJWaring last edited by

          Well, that’s really bad news. I don’t see a reason to use the power archiver since there are such unsolvable problems…

          Could you then please advise me where to store my files online safely. Thanks!

          RJWaring 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • RJWaring
            RJWaring @Vazebest last edited by

            @Vazebest:

            Well, that’s really bad news. I don’t see a reason to use the power archiver since there are such unsolvable problems…

            Could you then please advise me where to store my files online safely. Thanks!

            Reference towards the unsolved problems. I cant say there isnt a fix because there might be :) but my experience with things like Encrypted content is like with all other apps Desklock, Steganos, PGP of such i have used all of them and if during encryption / decryption there is a crash then the file can corrupt and due to the algorithems used being par-crpyted its very likely you cant recover it easily.

            Hense why I would create an encrypted file and back it up so if a version of an encrypted archive becomes corrupt you can revert to a previos version.

            I wouldnt hold frustration towards PowerArchiver as the same thing can happen with any Encrypted Archive.

            Reference towards Online Backup sources for me I use LiveDrive they seem to offer the cheapest price unlimited backup storage space for home users with FTP and shared permisions access via a custom web portal.

            ie you can setup a folder so friends & family can access authorised pictures, files, etc etc

            Obviosly, there are other providers :) but i’ve used most of them and personaly I trust livedrive.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • spwolf
              spwolf conexware @RJWaring last edited by

              @Sir:

              I’ve heard this kinda problem a few times ref encrypted archive’s & .pae’s being corrupted due to a crash during loading/exporting.

              huh?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • spwolf
                spwolf conexware last edited by

                @Vazebest:

                Hi guys!

                I encrypted some files with password and after a little whilte tried to add 5 more files to the existing *.pae archive. Everything went fine and at the end I was asked if I want to save the changes to the old archive (with the new added files). Confirmed……and then NOT RESPONDING…and then when I tried to open the archive it thinks a little while, says decrypting and then stops and a message comes WRONG PASSWORD. And the password is correct. Is there a way to fix the archive now and save at least some of the files? I now that if it was .zip it would be possible to repair, but what about *.pae ?!? Please help! Thanks in advance to everyone!

                it is not possible to repair corrupted encrypted files because they are encrypted and by nature that makes it impossible.

                This is first time i hear of someone’s archive being corrupted during update.

                What format did you use, zip pae?

                D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • D
                  davidsplash @spwolf last edited by

                  what would be better would be to add some sort of protection to encrypted archives like pae so when it updates if there is a computer error it can be recovered

                  spwolf 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • spwolf
                    spwolf conexware @davidsplash last edited by

                    @davidsplash:

                    what would be better would be to add some sort of protection to encrypted archives like pae so when it updates if there is a computer error it can be recovered

                    it cant be done, if it is encrypted, it means it is garbled, and when then it corrupts, there is no way to recover the corruption.

                    instead, i suggest that people shouldn’t encrypt things that are not important. Over the years we have seen people ask us about recovery of things like family pictures and final papers for university…

                    D RJWaring 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • D
                      davidsplash @spwolf last edited by

                      What would be a good feature would be to enbcrypt the file but to not overright the last known good backup instead create a new file and then test the file and if it wortks ok then come up with a dialoge saying do u want to delete last backup of files

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • RJWaring
                        RJWaring @spwolf last edited by

                        @spwolf:

                        it cant be done, if it is encrypted, it means it is garbled, and when then it corrupts, there is no way to recover the corruption.

                        instead, i suggest that people shouldn’t encrypt things that are not important. Over the years we have seen people ask us about recovery of things like family pictures and final papers for university…

                        I Cant really argue with spwolf on this.

                        The whole point of encryption is to make it very hard for human’s & computers to make sense of what is within that secured format.

                        Back when I worked for a government agency as a contracter they encrypted everything on the fly but on the occation the active session got currupt due to any number of regular reasons they rolled the session back by versions to a point of a default unlocked template. Also, there was a testing algorithm before boot to check that the encryption keys were stable.

                        For me personally, I pay a very small amount a month for unlimited backup’s & upto 30 versions of every file… Meaning I can roll back 30 versions of that particular file before im out of options.

                        So… what am i trying to say…

                        Encrypting is a method of scrambling source code so only a valid key can unlock it…

                        Backing up is a method of backing up a File or Folder and its contents.

                        The key is to use both methods to secure your data.

                        Its hard for Powerarchiver to tick both boxes as to encrypt and backup unlocked contents to the same drive isnt safe so PA give the user the option todo both and then move a backup to a wide array of options such as FTP, DVD or system location drive ie NAS drive or USB storage.

                        So if you are to encrypt a file then test it before deleting the source then if it works without issue back it up onto another drive, FTP, DVD etc etc…

                        That way you can continue to encrypt on your active session and if something goes wrong you have a backup else where.

                        D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • D
                          davidsplash @RJWaring last edited by

                          i agree you cant argue with the pfacts but you can help them by not overrighting last known good archive untill pa has actually checked the new archive is ok.

                          Basically i would like pa to do a tempory archive and then when it has made sure that archive is ok then overright the old archive.

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                          • M
                            Mili conexware last edited by

                            did you use the same or different password for the newly added files?

                            A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • A
                              Alexandra376 @Mili last edited by

                              can i restor e corupt archive after extraction?

                              A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • A
                                Alexandra376 @Alexandra376 last edited by

                                i allredy fix the problem, thanks

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                                • M
                                  Mili conexware last edited by

                                  Hi Alexandra,

                                  can you let us know some details?
                                  thanks!

                                  A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • A
                                    aaron-wilson @Mili last edited by

                                    Many viruses also corrupt the files and even archives. If that is the case then upload the file to virustotal.com which scans the file with all antiviruses avaialble and presents a report.

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