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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!
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
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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.
Compression methods
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may someone explain the compression methods in ways of situations when one is best of the others? tar seems to be best (there are multiple types of tar?)
sorry all the methods that PA is capable of and i don’t know which to choose in cases
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Tar is the lowest of all the types…it basically binds the files together without actually compressing them.
7-zip is the newest and most powerful of the compression schemes…if you want high compression ratios (smallest files), use 7-zip.
ZIP is the most widespread archiving format on the internet. While it generally gets on the low end of the compression levels, almost everybody already has software to open Zip files. If sharing files with friends you may wish to use ZIP.
GZipped and BZipped tars are basically tar files with compression added. Theyre used much more commonly in Unix environments than Windows environments. Compression for these is generally better than ZIP but worse than 7-Zip
These are the most popular types. Other types are used more sparsely and rarely have benefits thats outweigh the above.
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i’ve done a couple tests putting multiple files together using .7z and it was a larger size than when using .tar for a given selection of files. i don’t understand how .7z has more compression than?
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for high compression
7-Zip
don’t forget to check “Solid compression” before compressing your filesfor exchange with other users
ZIP
because every packer can handle ZIP -
i’ve done a couple tests putting multiple files together using .7z and it was a larger size than when using .tar for a given selection of files. i don’t understand how .7z has more compression than?
The only time this can happen is if the files you are “compressing” are already in a compressed format (which you may not have realised)!
E.g. Jpeg, Mpg etc.
Note some exe files are also “compressed”.If the file are uncompressed, then any compression format will give a smaller resultant size than TAR - because TAR does not perform compression.
E.g. Try with multiple text files, word documents, bmp files etc.With these, even using “fast” compression will produce a smaller archive filesize than TAR.
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thank you for the informative replies; that was helpful. thank you :)
