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    • Windows Store Delivery (and ideally updates)

      T

      Now that the Windows Store is making support for non-UWP apps mainstream, including those with their own update delivery process, it would be nice to see PowerArchiver in the Windows Store going forwards - at least as a channel for the product to be available.

      Wishlist
    • What features do you want in new format?

      spwolf

      Tell us what features you want from new format…

      Wishlist
    • Support for Zstandard .zst/.zstd archives

      Z

      It would be nice to be able to at least extract Zstandard archives.

      Wishlist
    • Windows 11 Context menu support

      BigMike

      In Windows 11 a new explorer context menu is introduced.
      The “old” context menu may still be accessed through an additional mouse click, to reach the PowerArchiver context menu functions, but this isn’t comfortable at all.

      Could you add PowerArchiver items to the first level (and ideally disable the Windows native ZIP entry)

      Wishlist
    • OneDrive for Business support

      Z

      I’m surprised that OneDrive for Business isn’t supported. I can’t link my company’s OneDrive account, but a personal (free) account works fine.

      Wishlist
    • Better handling for protected archives

      BigMike

      Hi,

      I’d like to propose an improvement for password protected archives.

      Actual behavior is:
      If I open an archive, which is password protected and make a typo in the password dialog, I’ll get the message, that the password was wrong and I end up with an empty window. I need to reopen the archive to be able to enter the password again.

      Improved behavior:
      Tell me, that the password was wrong and give me the chance to enter the correct password to decrypt the archive.

      Wishlist
    • ZIPX: Add support for packing JPEG with specialized algorithm

      A

      Hello!
      I know I have been asking for this feature some time ago, but as nothing has changed let me ask again:
      The ZIPX-format offers an algorithm, that compresses JPEG-files by about 20-30%. Please add compression (packing) support for this in ZIPX-archives to Powerarchiver. Extraction of JPEGs packed into ZIPX by this algorithm is already supported by Powerarchiver for a long time, so it should not be difficult? Or is it a licensing problem?
      Thanks!

      Wishlist
    • Better archive type handling with drag & drop

      BigMike

      Hi,

      I’d like to suggest, that the correct archive type is (always) selected, when adding files by drag & drop to an archive.

      This is already happening if the archive has the correct extension. For example, if I’m adding files to test.zip, zip will be selected. If I’m adding files to test.7z, 7z will be selected as format in “Add dialog”.

      But this won’t be working, if the archive has not the “right” extension.
      So XPI files (Firefox addons) for example are ZIP files. PowerArchiver opens them without any problems, but if I try to add file by drag & drop, PowerArchiver won’t auto select “ZIP”, but use the last selected archive format, while PowerArchiver already knows, that I’m trying to add files to a ZIP.

      Wishlist
    • Elevation of UAC in Mounting Images

      F

      I love this, only there is one problem. The UAC elevation feature does not extend to Mount Image option in the add-on software PA provided. It is most annoying whenever I am on highest UAC settings and I mount an ISO, every time I open and create a virtual drive UAC appears. I also do not want to completely disable UAC.

      Is adding UAC elevation for mount image feature possible?

      Wishlist
    • Bulkzip Nanozip (.nz) file format

      D

      The now defunct Bulkzip had Nanozip (nz) as an option this would be great to have for compatibility with my .nz files, so I don’t have to install Bulkzip separately.

      Wishlist
    • Include Virtual Drive as standalone in the installer

      2

      Hi.

      I noticed that when I want to run the Virtual Drive for the first time inside the PowerArchiver Burner it prompts to download it form the internet.

      I was wondering, would it be OK to include this utility straight into the offline installer to be able to set it up locally?

      Thank you!

      Wishlist
    • Suggestion to improve .pa format

      Brian Gregory

      How about recognising a few more (or all) of the file formats that are basically renamed zip files and treating them is if they are zip files.
      For instance Android .apk files are just renamed .zip files.
      Libreoffice/Openoffice ODF documents are all, as far as I am aware, just renamed .zip files. (.odt, .ott, .ods, .ots, .odp, .otp, .odb, .odf etc.)

      Wishlist
    • Folder navigation

      drteeth

      I would like to make a further plea for my mouse’s backwards and forwards keys to work when navigating to and from files, just like they do in explorer. IIRC, I was told that this functionality would be added to v2019.

      Mni tnx.

      Wishlist
    • Quake 1/2 .PAK file support

      AluminumHaste

      I use PA for everything, if I can.
      Would be really nice to maybe get built in support for Quake 1/2 .pak files.
      More info on the format, seems simpler than I thought: https://quakewiki.org/wiki/.pak

      Wishlist
    • Find file in archive.

      Luxor

      Would it be possible at all in some future version perhaps, to have a “find file” function?
      Reason I ask is that I was looking for a certain file I knew existed in an archive, but I had to unzip it then use another tool to find the file. It would have saved that extra step if that function existed in PA itself.

      Wishlist
    • Encrypt files inside archive that has already been created [.zipx]

      2

      Hi.

      Is there a way to enable the user to encrypt the files inside a ZIPX archive that has already been created?

      This could save time for large archives that the user may need to encrypt at a later stage or that he/she has forgotten to enable encryption before creating the archive,

      Thank you!

      Wishlist
    • Fast Extract large files directly to target directory

      2

      Hi.

      I would like to see a new feature implemented: a ‘Fast Extract’ Mode.

      Currently PowerArchiver extracts files to a temporary directory and then moves them to the target directory chosen by the user. At least via drag and drop.

      This can be both time consuming and needs free space on the system drive for large files.

      Is there a way to directly extract files to the target directory with PowerArchiver?
      And if not, can a feature like this be considered for future updates?

      Thanks very much!

      Wishlist
    • Serpent-256 Encryption for PAE/PAE2

      2

      Hello.

      I believe it would be useful to implement Serpent-256 encryption for PAE/PAE2 formats, even though PowerArchiver offers strong encryption ciphers already.

      (deleted part advertising other software - admin)

      Do you think this will be a useful addition?

      Thank you for the consideration!

      Wishlist
    • Make portable version compatible with PortableApps

      A

      Hello!
      I think it would be a great option to make the portable version of PowerArchiver compatible with PortableApps (i.e. adding the necessary files and folders to integrate it smoothly into their structure).
      I own various other commercial programmes which -when installed in portable mode- offer to make the becessary changes without needing an extra installer or the official PortableApps repos.
      Thanks for opinions or perhaps even a realization of this.
      A.Borque

      Wishlist

    SOLVED Faster startup and close times in PA 2017

    Wishlist
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    • N
      nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

      The fact that main Power Archiver 2017 executable is built with a high level language such as Delphi 10.1 (Berlin), makes it noticeable slower to start, and slower to close than other tools (less capable), such as WinRAR and 7-Zip.

      It is noticeable even in my quad core Intel Skyline at 3,2 Ghz with 20 GB of RAM and an SSD drive. For instance:

      CLOSING POWERARCHIVER
      It takes one to two seconds once I click on the cross window button, until it is closed. User experience will be better, if main window is hidden just after the close button is clicked, and then, the required deinitialization takes place in background with the window hidden.

      STARTING POWERARCHIVE
      Main executable is about 40 MB, compared with about 1 MB in 7-Zip and 2 MB in WinRAR, this makes it slowr to start, even if your efforts, so I guess there are some things that could be applied:

      1. Use Delphi dynamic linking against VCL. In this case, since Windows caches recently used DLL, subsequent PA restarts, will be faster than they are now.

      2. Move initialization to take place, the later the better. Specially if this is when the main GUI is presented. Maybe delaying the load of some DLL and so on.

      spwolf 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • N
        nikkho Alpha Testers @spwolf last edited by

        @spwolf Indeed much faster!

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

          does PA 2017 take 1-2s to close or 2016? I can see no more delay in closing since version PA 2017. What AV are you using?

          As to the start, it has been optimized in 2017 compared to 2016. Right now it is best we can do. x64 version is slower to start but actual compression and decompression benefits outweight 0.5s slower start.

          thanks!

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • N
            nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

            The slow close is in 2017. No AV running.

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

              @nikkho can you please export your settings (Options> Save settings to…, or better regedit> HKCU>Software> PowerArchiverint) send them over to support at conexware dot com, to see if we can reproduce it here. Thank you!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • N
                nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

                Email sent!

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

                  @nikkho said in Faster startup and close times in PA 2017:

                  Email sent!

                  thanks, lets check it out.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • N
                    nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

                    By the way, maybe an option to consider to speedup startup times, would be the choice to keep PA loaded in the systray, and thus, requiring any operation will avoid loading it again, and simply show the window.

                    Nowadays, having allocated 45MB of RAM, reserved to PA, specially if you use to compress/decompress frequently, is a good choice.

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

                      @nikkho thats reasonable suggestion… lets see.

                      For some future versions, there was already discussion of adding ability to open several archives at once, as tabs (MDI interface). So you would skip that first load of PA together with reuse windows option.

                      How fast is the loading on your end?

                      A lot of work is always done on speeding things up since we add new features. x64 version of PA 2016 loaded almost 100% slower than 2017 (on my computer 2.25s vs 4.5s). x86 version of PA 2017 is fastest PA in past 10 years to start BUT, with x86 cant use all the memory we need for .pa format so we cant really use it unless it is on x86 system (loads 1.7s for me).

                      Anything under 2s seems fast subjectively.

                      I think problem might be when SSD disk is busy, and you try to load PA, it takes longer than usual, and thats where 40 MB size does not help. However it is usually very beneficial to have skins and images loaded in .exe when loading PA on idle computer. Hence the size. Skins we could even exclude (i believe 2 are loaded in exe, maybe 5MB size), but png images are very slow when it has to load few hundred from disk at runtime. Also, x64 version adds 10MB to the size.

                      But your suggestion is good, we will see how applicable is to PA and when we can test it internally.

                      Thanks!

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • N
                        nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

                        On my side, first load of PA 17.00.69 x64 from the SSD drive is same as you, 2-3 seconds. Next loads, are about 1,5-2 seconds.

                        As comparison, 7-Zip takes about 0,5 seconds, and WinRAR 1 second on first load. I would say your points look good. Moving outside the EXE file everything which is not mandatory for PA, and loading them when needed at runtime, will improve things a lot.

                        Also for PNG files as well as other resources, you can use FileOptimizer, which I am the author, by the way: http://nikkhokkho.sourceforge.net/static.php?page=FileOptimizer

                        You should be able to reduce them about 20%-30%, not a big deal, but an improvement considering the effort to optimize them is almost zero.

                        spwolf 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • N
                          nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

                          You can also save some additional kilobytes by stripping EXE and DLL headers. FileOptimizer can do it for you, or maybe you want to directly automate it in your build process after linking by using Leanify and PETrim and GNU Strip.

                          Screenshot

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

                            @nikkho said in Faster startup and close times in PA 2017:

                            On my side, first load of PA 17.00.69 x64 from the SSD drive is same as you, 2-3 seconds. Next loads, are about 1,5-2 seconds.

                            As comparison, 7-Zip takes about 0,5 seconds, and WinRAR 1 second on first load. I would say your points look good. Moving outside the EXE file everything which is not mandatory for PA, and loading them when needed at runtime, will improve things a lot.

                            Also for PNG files as well as other resources, you can use FileOptimizer, which I am the author, by the way: http://nikkhokkho.sourceforge.net/static.php?page=FileOptimizer

                            You should be able to reduce them about 20%-30%, not a big deal, but an improvement considering the effort to optimize them is almost zero.

                            pngs are already tiny… problem is access time - there are hundreds and loading each takes time, so overall there is a massive difference when they are outside (PA will load in 6+ seconds).

                            Overall, for computer like yours, it will make no difference with all the tests we did so far (and we spent few months early in the release just optimizing). But maybe there will be a difference on computers where disk is always doing something and thus PA loads in 4-5s.

                            We will have to test it to make sure.

                            Overall, maybe for PA 2018 we move for different skinning/toolbar solution, we could possibly eek another 0.2s-0.3s by that, without losing any features.

                            But maybe solution with hiding it in bg/tray would be most interesting one. We have to spend some time checking it out. Thanks!

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • N
                              nikkho Alpha Testers last edited by

                              Another idea to reduce startup time, is to optimize embedded resources. For instance:

                              • MAINICON.ico is 292.878 bytes and when FileOptimized, it gets down to 33.961 bytes.
                              • DXDOCKINGVS2005TARGET.bmp is 23.906 bytes and when FileOptimized, it gets down to 3.260 bytes.
                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • A
                                alexmiller last edited by

                                I came exactly to submit a wish for faster startup time! Glad I found this thread. I benchmarked the startup time using the PassMark AppTimer and the following settings:
                                0_1494949555622_PowerArchBenchmarkSettings.png

                                Note I needed to open a small zip file, otherwise the window would get recognized immediately without even being visible. This will open/close PowerArchiver and log the startup times.
                                I got these results with PA2016:
                                C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerArchiver\POWERARC.EXE - 10 executions
                                5.5576
                                5.5796
                                5.6077
                                5.6391
                                5.4462
                                5.7956
                                5.7484
                                5.8043
                                6.0803
                                5.9100
                                I got these results with PA2017 (x64):
                                3.8749
                                3.6198
                                3.8846
                                3.9920
                                3.7549
                                3.7141
                                3.7790
                                3.7693
                                3.7528
                                3.9696

                                A significant improvement with 2017!! Thanks. I think the idea of recycling the instance by putting it in the tray is a great idea.

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

                                  @alexmiller what kind of cpu and OS do you have? I will somehow send you x86 to test on that setup too, it will be interesting to see :)

                                  thanks!

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

                                    @spwolf I’m lucky to have a beast system: Dual Xeon E5-1650 3.2Ghz. I’m running latest Win10 Pro build 15063.

                                    As I read above, you are developing with Delphi? I don’t know what skinning technology you are using, but have you tried the DevExpress VCL controls and skinning technology? Perhaps it is more performant… I use their .NET controls suite and i’m very satisfied.

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

                                      After lurking in the PA install folder, i’m pretty certain you already use DevExpress controls.

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

                                        @alexmiller said in Faster startup and close times in PA 2017:

                                        After lurking in the PA install folder, i’m pretty certain you already use DevExpress controls.

                                        yes, it is all devex controls, and they are beautiful and a bit slow.

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

                                          @nikkho wrote this in for PA 2018 :)

                                          btw, hows closing speed of alpha?

                                          N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • N
                                            nikkho Alpha Testers @spwolf last edited by

                                            @spwolf Closing speed is perfect. It happens instantaneously.

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

                                              @nikkho thanks for letting me know.

                                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                              • AluminumHaste
                                                AluminumHaste last edited by

                                                @spwolf for the image loading, since streaming data off HDD can be slow compared to handling images in memory, would combining all the images into an image atlas (one large image) and mapping the pixel locations to things instead be faster on startup?
                                                Similar to how minecraft stores it’s game textures in one large image file. Then you’re only loading 1 image file off the hard drive instead off hundreds.

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

                                                  @aluminumhaste said in Faster startup and close times in PA 2017:

                                                  @spwolf for the image loading, since streaming data off HDD can be slow compared to handling images in memory, would combining all the images into an image atlas (one large image) and mapping the pixel locations to things instead be faster on startup?
                                                  Similar to how minecraft stores it’s game textures in one large image file. Then you’re only loading 1 image file off the hard drive instead off hundreds.

                                                  so how come you dont have PA 2018 preview already? Should I send it over. Its fast. Faast!

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

                                                    @spwolf I used to try the Alpha a few years ago, don’t know why I stopped. Sure, glad to try it out.

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

                                                      Loading testing completed:
                                                      Powerarchiver 2017
                                                      1.38 sec
                                                      1.46 sec
                                                      1.35 sec

                                                      Powerarchiver 2018 - Alpha
                                                      0.53 sec
                                                      0.63 sec
                                                      0.60 sec

                                                      Closing has always been fast on my computer, 2018 is almost instant.

                                                      spwolf 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                                      • spwolf
                                                        spwolf conexware @AluminumHaste last edited by

                                                        @aluminumhaste thats pretty fast for 2017 too… when memory gets more fragmented during days of use, 2018 will go to 0.8s while 2017 will do something like 2.3-2.5s. At least from my experience.

                                                        Then if disk is doing something else in the background, we could have 2018 doing 1.3-1.5s while 2017 does 3.5-4s on same computer and ssd.

                                                        thanks for testing, how does it feel?

                                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                                        • AluminumHaste
                                                          AluminumHaste last edited by

                                                          Snappy, fast, quick.

                                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                                          • AluminumHaste
                                                            AluminumHaste last edited by

                                                            I tried PA 2017 portable, on work computer takes about 5 seconds to open

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

                                                              @aluminumhaste said in Faster startup and close times in PA 2017:

                                                              I tried PA 2017 portable, on work computer takes about 5 seconds to open

                                                              should be less than 2s in PA 2018… i dont think Portable is any slower, it is just different computer and possibly memory fragmentation after long running.

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

                                                                This is a work computer so yeah, also was loading that off of a USB flashdrive.

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

                                                                  Check latest PA 2018 build, and compare the speeds to 2017, 2016, etc.

                                                                  New version: PowerArchiver 2018 18.00.23 - BETA 1
                                                                  Download: http://dl.powerarchiver.com/2018/powarc180023.exe

                                                                  thanks!

                                                                  N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                                                  • N
                                                                    nikkho Alpha Testers @spwolf last edited by

                                                                    @spwolf Indeed much faster!

                                                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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