{"id":3981,"date":"2012-03-05T13:59:50","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T18:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=3981"},"modified":"2012-03-05T13:59:50","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T18:59:50","slug":"unzip-it-with-this-cloudeight-freeware-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/unzip-it-with-this-cloudeight-freeware-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"Unzip It! With this Cloudeight Freeware Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, we know since Windows XP, you don’t need a 3rd-party unzip program to unpack zip files. But what if you download a RAR file or Gzip file or some other kind of compressed (zipped) file? You’re kind of stuck, because Windows won’t recognize them. So you’ll have to searching for a program to open these other types of compressed files because Windows decompression (unzipper) is limited to a few file types, like zip and cab.<\/p>\n

So doesn’t it make sense to install a free program that will unzip any kind of zipped file you might download and associate it with all compressed formats? Of course. It’s good advice. And that’s why we’re recommending 7-zip – a free and unique decompression utility that unzips any kind of zip file easy and automatically. All you have to do is install 7-zip and associate it with all types of compressed files (zipped files) and let 7-zip handle unzipping them. To do this, download 7-Zip from www.7-zip.org and install it. Then open it, click “Tools” and under the “System” tab you’ll see all 35 types of compressed files that 7-zip will open. Press the “Select all” button – then click “Apply”. 7-zip is now associated with every kind of zipped file you’re ever likely to encounter. So the next time you download a file with an RAR extension – you won’t get the “Select the program you’d like to open this file with….” dialog. 7-zip will open RAR and 34 other zipped file types (including zip and cab).<\/p>\n

\"Cloudeight
\nAbove: 7-Zip’s file association dialog<\/p>\n

Here’s more information from the 7-zip developer’s site:<\/p>\n

“7-Zip is open source software. Most of the source code is under the GNU LGPL license. The unRAR code is under a mixed license: GNU LGPL + unRAR restrictions…<\/p>\n

You can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization. You don’t need to register or pay for 7-Zip.<\/p>\n

The main features of 7-Zip:<\/p>\n

High compression ratio in 7z format with LZMA and LZMA2 compression<\/p>\n

Supported formats:<\/p>\n

Packing \/ unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM
\nUnpacking only: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, VHD, WIM, XAR and Z.
\nFor ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
\nStrong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
\nSelf-extracting capability for 7z format<\/p>\n