Handling of folders in archives / slow

[olivers]

Hi, I’m currently evaluating PowerArchiver and I like it. One thing I noticed, though, is that the handling of folders in archives doesn’t seem too great. The first thing that meets the eye is that PA is reloading the current folder contents all the time. Browsing through multi-folder hierarchies takes a lot of patience and PA even reloads folders even if I enter and leave the options dialog.

Maybe that handling wouldn’t be so bad if reloading the folders wasn’t so horribly slow… during the course of my evaluation I have seen a lot of other archivers and none of them has been slow… I’ve been testing with the same zip archive: about 5MB, a few thousand source code files in a few hundred folders. All the other tools have shown bugs that PA doesn’t seem to have, so that’s a good thing, but in all the other tools browsing of the contents of single folders was instant, while in PA it takes around five seconds to open the archive in the first place and then it takes above a second (I’m guessing here) every time I click a folder in the hierarchy or a reload takes place for other reasons.

I admit this is quite an important issue for me, so is there anything I can do about it? Please tell me if you need any additional information. Is this the official support channel at all? I like the opportunity to test PA support as well before buying, so I’m looking forward to your reply!

Thanks
Oliver

[ivan]

This will be improved in upcoming 9.5:)

[olivers]

@ivan:

This will be improved in upcoming 9.5:)

Sounds good. Looking at your archived news though, I see that 9.2 has only been available for a month or so, and between 9.1 and 9.2 it’s been four months. So when will 9.5 be available? Specifically, will it be available before my evaluation period expires?

Thanks
Oliver

[olivers]

No more replies now?

[TBGBe]

@olivers:

Is this the official support channel at all?

I suppose the “official support” on an individual basis is via http://www.powerarchiver.com/support/

The forums are mainly User to User help and support - with ivan and spwolf (the official representatives of Conexware) joining in. Although bug reports in this Tech Support forum are “semi-official” in so far as they do get fixed.

@olivers:

… Specifically, will it be available before my evaluation period expires?

Well, you didn’t say how long your evaluation period is. :rolleyes:
As version 9.5 is still being developed and it’s not yet in ALPHA testing stage … I would guess the answer would have to be no.

[olivers]

@TBGBe:

Well, you didn’t say how long your evaluation period is. :rolleyes:
As version 9.5 is still being developed and it’s not yet in ALPHA testing stage … I would guess the answer would have to be no.

I didn’t assume there would be more than one possible length for the evaluation period… from the dialog appearing on startup, it looks like it’s 30 days.

Thanks for the info about v9.5. I’ll have to think about it under these circumstances, as the issue I was reporting is really quite serious for zip files with a lot of files and folders, and while competing products have problems in other areas they work just fine with those zip files. I’m also getting the impression that for a version 9.5 (I don’t think there’s any other packer program out there with a larger number, apart from Winzip which is also quite a lot older), finding such a problem in a product doesn’t leave the best impression with me.

Thanks
Oliver

[TBGBe]

@olivers:

I didn’t assume there would be more than one possible length for the evaluation period… from the dialog appearing on startup, it looks like it’s 30 days.

Now I understand, you were referring to the license “evaluation” period.
After the 30 days period has expired PowerArchiver shows a “nag” screen (at startup) if you accept this - there is no other limitation. No features are disabled and the program is fully functional. I guess you could continue in that mode until 9.5 is available. However, the evaluation period will not then restart, so you will still get the “nag” screen when trying 9.5 as well.

@olivers:

I’m also getting the impression that for a version 9.5 … finding such a problem in a product doesn’t leave the best impression with me.

OK, that is why you evaluate programs, to decide if they suit your usage requirements.
Hopefully, even if you decide against it now :eek: you will try it again when 9.5 is available (my guess would be in about two months time).

Personally, I don’t have a requirement to navigate/browse within archive files so have never noticed this slow/re-loading problem. My requirement was multi-format support and flexible explorer shell integration. For this, PowerArchiver suited me better than any other utility I tried (paid or free).
Of course, as registration of PowerArchiver also includes the commandline version (PACL) and the Outlook Plugin - there are extra bonuses

[olivers]

I just wanted to mention this: I have since bought a license for PowerArchiver and right now I’m looking at the new beta of PA 2006. Working with the same complex archives as before, the handling is now super fast! It only takes a few seconds at the start to read the structure (from a network drive, even) and after that I can navigate the hierarchy without further delays. Great work!

[spwolf]

@olivers:

I just wanted to mention this: I have since bought a license for PowerArchiver and right now I’m looking at the new beta of PA 2006. Working with the same complex archives as before, the handling is now super fast! It only takes a few seconds at the start to read the structure (from a network drive, even) and after that I can navigate the hierarchy without further delays. Great work!

good decision then, eh?

thanks…

[Ricco]

Quite agree. The performance is much faster in reading archive structure. And the support of ISO and BIN file really excited me. I think PA worths more than it costs!