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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!
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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.
Questions about PowerArchiver Backup…
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Hello.
I am attempting to evaluate whether or not PowerArchiver Backup would suit my backup needs, and I require some assistance. I have the following questions:
- Does an incremental backup back up in whole the files that have changed, or only the changed data in those files? In other words, if I make a 1 KB change to a 1 GB file, will the incremental backup be small or large?
- How does the incremental backup handle deleted files? I understand that PowerArchiver uses the archive flag of files to determine whether or not to back them up, but how does PowerArchiver know whether a file has been deleted and how does it store this information in the backup file?
- If for example I do a full backup and then four incremental backups, how many backup files will I end up with? One? Five?
- How do I go about restoring from the backup? Does PowerArchiver provide any special functionality for this, or do I need to manually extract the initial full backup and then each incremental backup after that?
I would appreciate it if someone could take the time to answer these. Thanks.
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Hi Dangermouse, welcome to the forum!
Would like to ask a preliminary question, how would you like your incremental backups to appear?
All backup in one archive or each incremental backup to be in it’s separate archive with a timestamp that you can manually set?Thanks!
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I don’t mind whether they appear to be stored in separate archives or in a single archive, as long as the incremental backups are linked to the full backup and the restore process is easy.
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PowerArchiver compresses full changed files, into separate archive.
Benefits of that is that it is more usable for DVD backup, and that losing one of the incremental backups will not destroy your complete backup.
What you are talking about is how online backups work, is that they change only parts of data from changed files (depending on type of file, it could be more or less). Which is good, if your data storage is 100% reliable.
We are actually planning to do such utility in the future, but it is completely different concept and it will be different utility (free “upgrade” for Toolbox users only).
We have all the backup differential code done with our own engine, and we are actually more efficient than all these online backups when it comes to how much data is stored after change (up to 30%), but we are waiting to finish up our new format in order to do that as that will compress pdf’s, office files and jpegs much more efficiently.
http://ideas.powerarchiver.com/
But again, it is very different concept and more suited to online backups where you can be 100% sure that you will not lose original backup and any of the version files.
If you are burning to DVD, I am not sure which concept would i recommend right now.
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Thank you both for replies.
What you are talking about is how online backups work, is that they change only parts of data from changed files (depending on type of file, it could be more or less). Which is good, if your data storage is 100% reliable.
We are actually planning to do such utility in the future, but it is completely different concept and it will be different utility (free “upgrade” for Toolbox users only).
I would definitely be interested in seeing such a feature.
If you are burning to DVD, I am not sure which concept would i recommend right now.
I am currently backing up to an external hard drive.
I think I’ve had most of my questions answered now, but the following two still remain:
- How does the incremental backup handle deleted files? Does PowerArchiver store information about which files have been deleted in the incremental backup?
- How do I go about restoring from the backup? Does PowerArchiver provide any special functionality for this, or do I need to manually extract the initial full backup and then each incremental backup after that?
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it doesnt handle any of that, they are just archives, just created based on your settings, which are extensive.
Extraction shouldnt be that complicated, for minimum fuss, you can just select all of them and sort by date and extract (and overwrite older ones).
Out Backup is basically most advanced way that exists to create ordinary archives.