Zip and rar archive differences. What to choose - WINRAR archive or ZIP archive

Not even one owner of a modern PC or laptop can do without extremely useful application— an archiver capable of creating an archive from several files or compressing information intended for file exchange several times. The most common and versatile tools in this category are generally considered to be Zip archivers and Rar. We propose to compare their functionality and determine the degree of convenience of each program.

The fundamental difference between the Rar archiver is that it does not take up much space in the device’s memory. This program is quite easily restored in the event of its forced loss, it allows you to create both continuous or self-extracting archives, and multi-volume archives that include a lot of different components. The program provides opportunities to set a password for a particular information cell. In this case, it will simply be impossible to open the file without entering a code word or character set. Archiver Rar convenient as an internal file storage, but as a link in the file exchange chain it is no longer so effective, because files in audio or video formats are not very convenient to compress, and the compression speed of large text messages is far from ideal.

The latest versions of this archiver are very convenient dialog boxes, allowing you to divide all settings into several categories. This simplifies the process of working with the archive. WinRAR is also well equipped functionally. It supports file dearchiving feature in ISO formats, CAB, JAR, ARJ, BZ2, LZH, UUE, ACE, GZip, TAR, as well as standard RAR and ZIP (with the ability to create archives and other functions, of course). When working with this archiver, you can supplement the archive with comments, information explanations for recovery, set a lock on the function of making changes to archived files, and divide archives into volumes. In addition to this, in latest version the user can even create as an access test electronic signature, which the program will compare with the presented samples. However, this function only works in full version after registering with the developer.

The WinRAR archiver is also different good abilities to compress small files, but archiving large files takes quite a bit for a long time. This is not very convenient during work. It is also inconvenient if files of one of the audio/video formats need to be compressed, since the process takes too long and the result does not always reach the required size.

The Zip archiver is one of the most common options for quickly and efficiently compressing a file in preparation for sending via e-mail. This program is pre-installed in standard package Windows operating systems, which means it is available on most computers in the world. You don’t have to search for it and download it additionally, wasting time. The configuration interface in WinZip looks like a single dialog box. There is no path window to indicate the shortest path to the file, which is not always convenient.

This program is primarily focused on working with Zip files. She can create them, send them, and dearchive them. With other data formats, things are not so simple. It will only be possible to unpack files of the most common formatting categories, but there are all possibilities for working with UUE files. Of course, this is not the most frequently used format, but still some users prefer it over all others. The archiver also allows you to encrypt files or set a user password on archived data. In this case, data security is protected much more effectively than with simple encryption. Difficulties may arise when setting up the archive itself, as well as when working on creating self-extracting modules. However, not everyone uses them, and such archiving options are not needed very often.

But WinZip archiver copes well with its main responsibilities. It quickly and efficiently archives files in audio/video formats, easily copes with archiving text files and documents of any size. The resulting compression is also capable of satisfying even the most demanding user.

In fact, when comparing both archivers, it should be recognized that the purposes of their use are still somewhat different from each other. The Rar archiver is intended rather for intra-system work; it is convenient in scientific or journalistic activities where it is necessary to store information for a long time. Such a program will allow you to clearly classify files intended for saving, and additional features, like creation multi-volume archives, make it easy to find necessary information by the passage of time.

The Zip archiver certainly outperforms its counterpart in popularity and archiving work various files(Isn’t that why you need an archiver on your computer?). This program is certainly good at fulfilling its immediate responsibilities - it works quickly and accurately. The file can be sent via the Internet without leaving the archive. This is also very convenient, especially if you need to mass send the same document to many users. In general, the advantages are obvious. And external “beauty” and additional functions are unlikely to be needed by those who mainly download files themselves or exchange information on work. Here, the universal Zip will be much more convenient than the functionally expanded Rar.

The old man had two sons: the youngest with special needs, the eldest with quirks... In the role of the old man today is an archiver, for example, WinRar, in the role of sons - two data compression formats: RAR and ZIP. Each with characteristics and quirks. Why are we talking about WinRar? According to statistics, this is one of the most popular archivers today, working with many formats, including RAR and ZIP. And an inexperienced user has to constantly choose between them, sometimes wondering whether he made the right choice.

Definition

ZIP- a file archiving and information compression format with a final file extension of .zip. First published in 1989. ZIP is also a direct archiver program.

RAR- a file archiving and information compression format with a final file extension of .rar. Also, RAR is directly an archiver program.

Comparison

Let's see what the difference is between rar and zip as independent packed data formats. The first, and in some people’s eyes the most important, point is the developers. ZIP was created by American Phil Katz, and RAR was created by Russian citizen Evgeniy Roshal. Isn’t this a reason to be proud: the archiver and format have achieved worldwide popularity, and several years ago in Russia RAR was the most common archive format. Standard icon“a stack of books” is known to most users even now, while the usual “folder with a lock” and “boxes in a vice” ZIP sometimes causes bewilderment for those who have recently sat down at the keyboard - there are no associations with a data archive.

If we talk about the process of working with archives and archiving itself, ZIP is created somewhat faster than its rival format. True, you can notice this either on very slow systems, or when accessing a huge array of files. RAR compresses data more strongly, which saves disk space.

Creating multi-volume archives is a “bun” exclusively of RAR: for recording on small storage media, the archived file is divided into several volumes during the process. In this case, ZIP uses many disks (divides archives across disks) and “glues” them together into a single whole. In this case, an attempt to work with part of the archive will not be effective.

Significant differences lie in the functionality of the formats themselves. RAR allows you to add new files to an existing archive, as well as restore damaged ones using the archive itself. The function of setting a ban on changing data in the archive in order to avoid damage to files is also in demand. ZIP does not work with files larger than 2 GB, RAR can theoretically archive files up to 8 exabytes in size (over 8 million terabytes).

Another significant point is the prevalence of both formats. Currently, one of them cannot be considered more popular than the other, but operating system developers have adopted ZIP, integrating it into their builds by default. When installing a new OS, be it Linux or Windows, the user may not worry about the fact that the first thing he will need to do is download an archiver program to work with the software. Since ZIP opens by default, many people do not need to switch to RAR at all. This forced distribution puts the emphasis on ZIP in the exchange process file archives over the network: the archive will be unpacked for the vast majority of users.

Conclusions website

RAR format created Russian developer, ZIP - American.
The compression process in ZIP is slightly faster.
The compression ratio in RAR is higher.
RAR can create multi-volume archives.
RAR has the ability to repair a damaged file.
ZIP does not work with files larger than 2 GB.
ZIP is included by default with most desktop operating systems.

If you spend most of of your time downloading and uploading files from the internet, then you must have come across RAR and ZIP files. ZIP and RAR are the most popular and widely used file formats for archiving and compressing data. While both use the super-fast LZ77 compression algorithm to compress and decompress content, of course one has a bit of an edge over the other, maybe in terms of speed and efficiency.
Both are compression algorithms that effectively compress your files to reduce their size without affecting the content of the files. While a RAR file is an archive file created using the WinRAR program that can be downloaded from the Internet as free software within a few days, a ZIP file is a common file extension associated with several programs such as WinZIP, WinRAR and Freebyte Zip. This article explains the difference between ZIP and rar files.

What is ZIP?

The ZIP file format was actually created by Phil Katz and Gary Conway following a lawsuit against PKWARE filed by System Enhancement Associates (SEA). The lawsuit alleged that PKWARE archival products were taken from own system SEA ARC archiving. But the lawsuit was dropped, followed by a legal settlement. Katz released its first compression program that used new format ZIP file called PKZIP and subsequently released it to the public in 1989. Today, ZIP is a widely used format for lossless data compression and is supported by several software utilities, including the built-in ZIP support provided by Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The best thing is that ZIP files can be opened using any program that creates ZIP files.

Like other archive formats, ZIP files are data containers that contain one or more files in a compressed format using Zip compression. But ZIP archives are also capable of more than just file compression; they can encrypt files (password protected) and split archives in just a few clicks. Multiple files can be compressed or split using multiple methods such as LZMA, WavPack, PPMd, BZIP2, DEFLATE. Each file can be stored separately so they can be accessed in a random order and because they are archived individually, it makes it easy to retrieve them, or add new ones, without ever touching the entire archive. ZIP archives can also contain additional content that is not associated with the archive, making it a self-extracting archive.

What is RAR?

RAR stands for Roshal Archive Compressed file, which is a proprietary archive format named after its Russian-born creator Evgeniy Roshal. Like other archives, RAR contains one or more files or folders. If you think of RAR as a regular folder containing several programs or files, then, unlike a regular folder located on your hard drive, rar files require a third-party software opened and extracted the contents of the archive. This is the native file format in WinRAR archiver e, which stores multiple files in a compressed form and all you need to do is decompress its contents to access the files. It uses a higher compression ratio than normal ZIP compression and includes a proprietary compression algorithm that handles lossless data compression, preserves file extension, monitors errors for archive recovery, and more. Archives usually have the standard "Rar".

Difference between ZIP and RAR

ZIP and RAR Basics

ZIP is an archive file format created by Phil Katz as standard format for lossless data compression, which includes several compression algorithms to compress/decompress one or more files. RAR is a proprietary format archive files, developed by Russian software engineer Evgeniy Roshal.

Efficiency of ZIP and RAR

The RAR format can compress a file much better than the same when done with the ZIP format, which means that the compression speed of RAR is better than that of the ZIP format. RAR also archives files from smaller sizes compared to ZIP archives, what does RAR is the best alternative than ZIP.

Popularity of ZIP and RAR

The main advantage of using the ZIP format is its popularity. Because the ZIP file format was developed a long time ago, it has a slight advantage over the RAR format and is still the most widely used archive type, still accounting for a significant number of archive files on the Internet.

Programs for ZIP and RAR

Third party software called WinRAR is required to open and extract the contents of a RAR archive, while ZIP is a widely used format that is supported by various commercial as well as open source source code tools and utilities.

Compression speed in ZIP and RAR

ZIP uses a less complex structured format for storing files. It uses old but popular compression methods and a data compression algorithm that is less efficient than newer compression methods that are not supported by any operating system by default. RAR uses a compression algorithm that is significantly better and more efficient than the DEFLATE compression method.

Security in ZIP and RAR

RAR is used special program called WinRAR is an archiver for compressing and decompressing file contents that comes with built-in support for password encryption which is great for security. But the default support in operating systems Windows and Macintosh do not have a password protection feature.

Resume

Both formats are compression algorithms that effectively compress your files to reduce their size without affecting the file content. ZIP is the most widely used file format used for lossless data compression and has been in use longer than RAR, and it still makes up a significant number of archive files on the Internet. However, RAR has better speed compression, better encryption and more low speed data loss. The ZIP format has been in use for quite a long period of time, which makes it a little more popular than RAR, but RAR certainly has an edge over the ZIP format when it comes to speed and efficiency.

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Volumes are fragments of an archive consisting of several parts. Volumes are only supported in RAR format, you cannot create ZIP volumes. Typically volumes are used to save large archive on several floppy disks or other removable media.

The first volume in the sequence has the usual extension .rar, and the extensions of subsequent volumes are numbered as .r00, .r01, r02, etc. Volumes can also be contiguous and self-extracting. The first self-extracting volume has a different (i.e. non-.rar) extension, for example, .exe for DOS or OS/2 SFX volumes.

Already created multi-volume archives do not allow changes, i.e. You cannot add, update, or delete files to them.

To unpack volumes, you must start extracting from the first volume (with the .rar extension). If the volumes are on non-removable media (for example, on a hard drive), then you first need to copy all the volumes into one folder.

SFX archive

A self-extracting (SFX, from the English SelF-eXtracting) archive is an archive to which an executable module is attached. This module allows you to extract files by simply running the archive as regular program. Thus, to extract the contents of the SFX archive, no additional external programs. However, WinRAR can work with an SFX archive just like any other, so if you do not want to run an SFX archive (for example, when you cannot guarantee that it is free of viruses), then to view or extract it content you can use WinRAR.

SFX archives, like any other executable files, usually have the extension .EXE.

SFX archives are convenient in cases where you need to transfer an archive to someone, but you are not sure that the recipient has the appropriate archiver to unpack it. You can also use SFX archives to distribute your own programs. For example, the WinRAR distribution is based on the RAR Default.sfx GUI SFX module.

To create an SFX archive from the command line, you can use the -sfx switch when creating a new archive, or the S command to convert an existing archive to SFX. When creating a new archive in the WinRAR shell, enable the "Create SFX archive" option in the dialog for entering the name of the parameters and archive. If you need to create an SFX archive from an existing one, then enter it and click the "SFX" button.

WinRAR can create archives in two different formats: RAR and ZIP. The benefits of each are described below.

ZIP Archives

The main advantage of the ZIP format is its popularity. Thus, most archives on the Internet are in ZIP format. If you want to send an archive to someone, but are not sure that the recipient has the WinRAR program to unpack the archive, then it makes sense to use the ZIP format. However, in this case you can also send a self-extracting (SFX) archive. Such archives are slightly larger than usual, but are not required to unpack them additional programs.

Another advantage of ZIP is speed. ZIP archives are typically created faster than RAR archives.

RAR Archives

The RAR format in most cases provides significantly better compression than ZIP, especially in continuous archive mode. Another important feature of RAR is support for multi-volume archives. They are much more convenient and easier to use than so-called “span disks” ZIP archives. WinRAR does not support such ZIP archives - multi-volume archives can only be created in the RAR format.

In addition, the RAR format has several very important functions features that ZIP lacks, such as adding recovery information that allows you to recover a physically damaged file, and locking archives to prevent accidental modification of particularly valuable data.

The RAR format allows you to process files of almost unlimited size (almost 8,589,934,591 GB), while the size of a single file in a ZIP archive cannot exceed 4 GB.

We are so designed that every time we need to create an archive, we ask ourselves again and again: what is better to choose: a RAR or ZIP archive? Any modern archiver must be able to create RAR and ZIP archives. It’s not enough to say that these are the two most popular archive format, it is absolutely necessary to clearly distinguish between their features and advantages. This is what we will talk about next.

ZIP Archives

The main advantage of archives is ZIP format- its prevalence. Thanks to Windows huge amount archives on the Internet use the ZIP format. This does not mean at all that this format and data compression algorithm are the best. It’s just that it’s probably available, so when you’re going to send someone an archive with data, but you’re not at all sure that your recipient will be able to use it WinRAR program, or another that can work with RAR archives, then it probably makes sense to use the archive in ZIP format. However, this problem can be solved completely radical method, – use a self-extracting SFX archive. Even though such archives are a little larger in size, they are still easy to unpack SFX archive nothing is needed anymore.

RAR archives

The RAR format is definitely superior to ZIP in the main thing: the work of programs with RAR archives is more stable, and the archiving algorithm in RAR format allows you to get more high degree data compression. The advantages of RAR are especially noticeable when creating continuous and multi-volume archives. Archives in the RAR format have a wider range of functions, such as: recovery of damaged archives, self-extracting volumes, blocking accidental file modifications, and many others. Both archiving formats can work with files of almost any size ( maximum size file 8589934591 GB), and have the ability to comment on files included in the archive.

Archive comment

By the way, you can include various text comments in ZIP and RAR archives. Usually, they are called that: archive comments. In some cases this can be very convenient. In order to add your comments to an already created archive, you can use graphical shell WinRAR or command line. Whoever likes it more. In the first case, you need to use the “Add comment” option, and in the second case, use the “z” command<файл>" And, in addition, it is convenient to create comments during the process of archiving files, using the dialog box of the WinRAR section “Archive name and parameters”. Thus, if you, for example, open an archive with comments in WinRAR, then in the list of archive files, to the right about them, comments will be visible. The size of the window for displaying comments can be easily changed by simply dragging the left edge of the window with the mouse.

Considering that WinRAR works easily and freely with ZIP archives, ZIP archivers RAR don’t understand, the choice is obvious - only WinRAR.