7-Zip Freeware (open source) ver. 4.57 - this version not tested at 6.4.08 09.04.08 - Then on 16½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 14th of 48 tools tested. Still no cure of issues (i), (ii), (iii) & (v) below. If you are thinking of trying 7-Zip because you've seen it recommended in a computer magazine, first read about the higher-rated spin-off tool called jZip. Plenty more... ver. 4.55 Beta 838KB (download) 12.12.07 - Then on 16½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 14th of 47 tools tested. 05.09.07 - Then on 16½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 13th of 45 tools tested. ver. 4.48 Beta 828KB 23.08.07 - Then on 18½ fails in 58 tests, ranked 14th of 40 tools tested. Very tiny, under 1MB, but that means living with too many limitations for our liking - as the high number of fails indicates. A handful of issues - (i) no 2-pane folder-tree view, (ii) no empty window when opened from a shortcut, (iii) no File Type column in its 'Details' view, (iv) drag and drop support unreliable when trying to extract all or part of the content from nested zip files [fixed by v4.55], (v) tool can't create an empty usable zip file on the desktop. And more. Well-vaunted in computer magazines. 24.07.07 - Then on 17 fails in 53 tests, ranked 14th of 37 tools tested. 19.07.07 - 2nd behind WinRAR in three zip tools featured in Web User magazine. 08.07.07 - Then on 15½ fails in 49 tests, ranked 11th of 37 tools. More... ver. 4.42 818KB 10.07.06 - Recommended in ComputerActive magazine. ver. 4.32 820KB 01.07.06 - Excellent file compression utility (Computer Shopper, July 2006) 01.01.06 - Recommended in PC Pro mag as free, and the .7z format being the second highest compression ratio after WinRK's native .RK format. ver. 4.23 1.04MB 03.07.05 - 03.02.05 - Recommended in Computer Active magazine as a free means of unpacking .RAR files. ver. 3.13 920KB 22.01.04 - Recommended in Computer Active magazine as free with no nags. |
| ACDZip Time-limited trial-ware ver. 1.0 3.04MB $19.95 18.01.08 - Then on 12 fails in 61 tests, ranked 9th of 48 tools tested. More... 10.12.07 - ACDZip new entry to our blue table. 47th tool tested. Then on 11½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 9th of 47 tools. ACDZip is the saddest tale in this list of zip tools. It is quite an effective tool, good enough to rank in the top ten in our blue table. However, it turns out to be a time-limited demo that disables itself after 25 days and there is no guaranteed way of purchasing the full version as the tools built-in links for buying it lead nowhere. Nor can it be patched nor serialed, so waste no time trying. The tool opens with a modern 2-pane folder-tree view by default - with a very nice touch in that nested zip files open already fully expanded in the left pane so you can immediately see the full folder-tree structure. ACDZip dates back to 2002 but was never developed beyond ver 1.0. At that time, it was on a par with EnZip (from the year 2000), and both had features which were to take WinZip and WinRAR another 5 years to catch up. ACDZip has subsequently been dropped from parent company ACDSee's software product range. Four issues with ACDZip - (i) there is a fuzzy background pattern behind the toolbar buttons which makes you think it has failed to install properly [but there is a fix hidden in the tool's Options], (ii) the button labels are at the side of the buttons - causing some buttons to be lost off the RHS of the tool's window and, consequently, leaving no room to display any of the additional buttons which are available under Options [but there is a fix hidden in Options that will move the labels below the buttons], (iii) if you adjust the column widths in the tool's window, it forgets your settings the next time you open the tool and reverts back to its own default widths, (iv) the tool cannot span (spit) zip files across removable media. What ACDSee should have done, instead of abandoning the tool, was to have made it available as freeware. That would have gained them some ongoing free publicity and, hence, traffic to their website and exposure for their other online software products. Left as things are, this ostensibly top ten-worthy tool is doomed to further obscurity (had you heard of it before seeing it here?) while other, often inferior zip tools, continue to steal all the limelight. The nearest alternative to ACDZip, of the same era and style, and actually just better, is the freebie EnZip. |
| Alpha ZIP Shareware ver. 1.3 4.3MB $29.95 Not rated for the reasons given below. 02.09.07 - 45th tool added to this list. Instead of opening as a floating window with toolbars, like every other leading zip tool, Alpha ZIP takes a more simplistic approach - opening with a big, blue, text-heavy, wizard-like window (screenshot). From here, all you can do directly is create or open an archive file. At this basic, wizard level, the tool would not score well enough to join the leaders in our blue table. There is, however, a 'Settings' button on the wizard window which lets Alpha ZIP integrate with Windows' right-click context menus and the toolbar and menus of Windows Explorer. Alpha ZIP is one of about half a dozen tools in this list which work in that way - but we have not rated any of them because, basically, they are merely superimposing themselves on a facility which is already in Windows (since Me), for free, called Compressed (zipped) Folders. Alpha ZIP, however, looks to be the most sophisticated one of this type - or the most invasive, depending on your viewpoint. The only bad thing we noticed was that it adds itself to the right-click > New menu an incredible ten times. We don't know anybody who isn't irritated when different programs saturate the New menu like that. This is the only time we have ever seen a zip tool guilty of more than one entry. Apart from that one, needless excess, there appeared to be no other reason why anybody using this out-of-the-ordinary tool would be disappointed by it, with or without a rating from us! |
| ALZip Freeware ver. 6.7 5.48MB 01.09.07 - Then on 10 fails in 59 tests, ranked 6th of 44 tools tested. Has a high ranking despite some silly niggles unique to this particular tool i.e. (i) still had a small incestuous banner ad in the toolbar where more buttons would be far more useful, (ii) the expected list of Recent Files under the File menu was not showing, (iii) if you change from the default 2-pane folder-tree view, you can't toggle straight back to it, you have to delve into Preferences to reset it, (iv) when you create an empty zip file on the Desktop it won't open, you get an error message. 17.08.07 - Then on 10 fails in 57 tests, ranked 6th of 40 tools tested. 16.07.07 - AlZip new entry to our blue table. Then on 8½ fails in 52 tests, ranked 6th of 37 tools. This version (6.7) was much bigger and, hence, better than the first one we reviewed (see below). Good enough, in fact, to earn a high ranking. ver. 5.52, 1.8MB Testing halted due to limitations. 18.06.05 - Configurability was limited. Soon apparent this smallish tool would rank below those already in our blue table, so testing was aborted. |
| BigSpeed Zipper Freeware ver. 4.0 777KB Testing halted due to limitations. 09.07.05 - At 777KB, this is one of the smallest zip tool in this list. Opens with a 4-pane window instead of the usual one or two panes. A case of trying to do too much with too little. Defo. |
| BitZipper Shareware ver. 5.02 4.4MB $25 04.12.07 - Reading their online long list of bugs that have had to be fixed since v4.1 is alarming for a program that was supposed to be shareware quality. No immediate plans to retest. ver. 4.1 2.65MB Testing halted after accumulating 15½ red fails in 42 tests (back in 2005) 27.08.05 - 29th tool tested. Had drag-and-drop weaknesses and, unusually, a nag screen when closing the tool - which we found even more irritating than the usual ones when opening some tools. |
| CleverZip Shareware ver. 1.2 1.28MB Testing aborted due to key functions being disabled. 08.02.06 - 31st tool tested. This was an old tool for Windows 95, NT and 98 only. As well as a nag screen, this tool also had disabled functions meaning it could unzip files but not zip them nor explore them. So, basically, it could not be tested. Did not provide an icon for zip-files. Integrated directly into the Windows' shell, so was advanced for its time. Still around but don't know why, can't see anybody buying it these days. 01.04.99 - Recommended in .net magazine as a way of viewing downloaded zip files in Windows Explorer as if they were folders on your hard disk. |
| Compressed (zipped) Folders Free facility within Windows Me, XP and Vista ver. Windows Me & XP 01.09.07 - Then on 11 fails in 59 tests, ranked 8th of 44 tools tested. Plenty more... Part of Windows. Opens zip files in My Computer or Windows Explorer, hence view can be changed to or will be in a 2-pane folder-tree view. Some XP & Vista users don't realise they've got this excellent tool, especially if they have installed some other zip tool which has hijacked Windows' right-click context menus. To check that CzF (for short) is functional on your own system, right-click on the Desktop > choose New and, if you can see "Compressed (zipped) Folders" you could be in business. Clicking the item will cause a new, empty zip file to be created on the Desktop. Right-click on the new file and choose Explore (Explore not Open). If the empty zip file opens in Windows Explorer, not in a third-party tool's window, that's also encouraging. Now left-drag any specimen file or folder, drop it on the right-hand pane and it will be compressed. Close Explorer. Now, open your (My) Documents folder and right-click on an ordinary file or folder > choose Send To and, if you can see "Compressed (zipped) Folders", clicking the item should cause a zip file to be created in My Documents. If those two tests worked, CzF is fully functional on your machine and can be used whenever you want to, irrespective of any 3rd-party tool you may already have installed. If those tests did not work, you can still reinstate CzF as the default zip tool without actually losing your other 3rd-party zip 04.08.07 - Then on 11 fails in 55 tests, ranked 8th of 39 tools tested. 01.08.07 - PC Answers once advised turning CzF off (Jan 05, below) but now plugs it (Sep 07). 13.07.07 - Then on 10 fails in 50 tests, ranked 7th of 37 tools. 24.06.07 - Then on 9 fails in 48 tests, ranked 6th of 37 tools. 12.06.07 - Then on 8½ fails in 45 tests, ranked 5th of 34 tools. 24.12.06 - Then on 8¼ fails in 44 test, ranked 4th of 32 tools. 22.01.06 - Then on 7½ fails in 43 tests, ranked 4th of 29 tools. 29.07.05 - Then on 7 fails in 42 tests, ranked 3rd of 25 tools. 30.06.05
- CzF was in our first online blue table. 16th tool tested. Then on 7 fails
in 42 tests, ranked 3rd of 24 tools,11.01.05 - PC Answers mag said turn it off as it uses a lot of resources, use a utility like ZipCentral instead. We say CzF is too good at its job to ignore it. And ZipCentral had defects when we looked at it (see its test results further down). 15.04.04 - Recommended in ComputerActive magazine. |
| CryZip 30.08.07 - Do not download or otherwise attempt to aquire this thing or, as its name suggests, you really will be crying. CryZip is a malicious ransomeware trojan which automatically compresses crucial types of files on your hard disk into password-protected zip files. This will render your documents, spreadsheets, photos and archives inaccessible until you pay the perpetrators a ransom of £150 for the password. Even typing the word cryzip in a search engine can bring up baited links to poisoned web pages - so just don't ever go there! Archiveus is a similar archiving trojan you must avoid like the plague. There are at least two others out there, so watch out. |
| CuteZip Shareware ver. 2.1 1.5MB Testing aborted after defects were experienced 26.01.06 - 30th tool tested. On the small side for the big claims made of it. Has a 1-pane folder-list view by default, which can be duplicated, but has no 2-pane folder-tree view. Proved to be yet another of several zip tools in this list which cannot be relied on to extract content fully from a nested zip file by drag-and-drop nor, even, with its Extract button. Nor can you drag individual files from its window from below the top level in a nested zip file. |
| DGCArchiver Freeware ver. 1.10 1.47MB Testing halted due to limitations. 24.06.07 - 37th tool tested. No toolbar buttons visible until after you click on a menu option. Then only a couple of buttons. No drag and drop support. Compresses only in its own unknown DGC format or self-extracting EXE. Terribly minimalist. |
| Drag And Zip Shareware ver. 3.5 1.06MB Testing aborted after flaws were encountered. 31.07.05 - 26th tool tested. Originally known as "Drag And Zip 95". Was apparently a way, in Windows 95, of turning Windows Explorer from being a plain file manager into a manager of zip files as well. DAZ was updated as recently as 2003 but our tests found it to be too primitive compared with the leaders in our blue table - and not without flaws. |
| EnZip Freeware ver. 3.0.11 19.07.07 - this supposed later version (3.0.11 from 2002) turns out to be v3.0 from 2000. Plenty more... ver. 3.00 1.5MB. EnZip Screenshot EnZip 3.00 download page EnZip '3.0.11' safe download page 01.09.07 - Then on 10½ fails in 59 tests, ranked 7th of 44 tools tested. EnZip 3 was released in 2000. Despite no further development by author Chris Marsh, it was nearly seven years before WinZip, WinRAR, or any of the freebies, had improved enough to overtake it in our test table. EnZip is small, fast, nag-free and, most important, dependable (unlike many freebies tested). EnZip works only with the popular .ZIP format, and has no built-in facility to encrypt zip files. But those points will be irrelevant to most people. Definitely our top recommendation for the 70 million people (July 2006 figure) still using Windows 98 (i.e. the last version not to have zipping built in). EnZip has a pleasant flat-button interface which mimicked the Windows Explorer' toolbar prior to Windows XP. Works fine in XP. After installing EnZip, it opens initially with a single-pane flat file-list view. To change to the required two-pane folder-tree view, click the drop-down arrow next to the View button and click on Show Folders, then click the Folders (toggle) button. To see an example of the resultant interface, click the screenshot link at the top of this paragraph. When you open EnZip's Help file for the first time, you may find the font size is too small to read but, if you click Help > Help Topics and, at the top of the Help window, click the Up/Down arrows next to the Font button, you can increase or decrease the text size. EnZip featured as the most popular freeware zip tool being downloaded from downseek.com right up to mid 2006 when, unfortunately, they discontinued their download comparison statistics. 17.08.07 - Then on 10½ fails in 57 tests, ranked 7th of 40 tools tested. 03.08.07 - Then on 9½ fails in 55 tests, ranked 6th of 39 tools tested. 14.06.07 - Then on 8½ fails in 45 tests, ranked 6th of 34 tools. 24.12.06 - Then on 7½ fails in 44 tests, ranked 5th of 32 tools. 27.01.06 - Then on 7½ fails in 43 tests, ranked 5th of 30 tools. 24.12.05 - Then on 7½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 4th of 29 tools. 30.06.05 - EnZip was in our first online blue table. Then on 7½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 4th of 24 tools. 14.01.05 - 4th freebie to be tried. 04.07.03 - Recommended in a computer magazine as a freebie zip tool with an optional Explorer-look interface. |
| FilZip Freeware ver. 3.01 1.54MB Trial aborted after 2 defects were experienced. 10.01.05 - 2nd-ever freebie to be tried. Trial aborted after the following two defects were experienced in Windows XP (i) when unzipping to the Desktop, sometimes the extracted content was not visible - it could be made visible only by refreshing the Desktop and (ii) even after refreshing the Desktop, if the zip file contained more than one item, only one of the items would become visible. |
| FreeZip Freeware ver. 1.4.9 247KB Trial aborted after inadequacies were experienced. 16.08.07 - 40th tool to be tried. The smallest tool in our list. Has no window - instead, it integrates with the Windows' right-click context menu. Has a variety of rules and restrictions including, when right-clicking on a single file on the Desktop, no menu option to zip the file. After putting the file in a folder and right-clicking on it, the Zip option appeared but it didn't just zip that folder as expected, but also every other file, folder and shortcut on the Desktop. Some of its functions open in a scary DOS box, even in Windows XP. Pointless. |
| IceOws Freeware ver. 0.9D 770KB Trial aborted after 2 deficiencies were experienced. 02.03.07 - 33rd tool to be tried. IceOws integrates with the Windows Explorer shell so it functions like Windows' built-in zip tool but with extra options. The tool was able to unzip and re-zip our nested test file satisfactorily but the right-click menu portrayed an array of mainly pointless options that would be bewildering to a novice user (like offering to re-zip an existing .ZIP file as a .ICE file!). But the main problem, which makes this tool a definite no no, is that it changes Explorer's normal ability to show the folder tree of a nested zip file into a dated flat file-list view. Even if the developer dealt with these issues, you would still be better off using Windows' own tool, or EnZip, both of which are also free. |
| IZArc Freeware ver. 3.81 3.55MB 12.12.07 - Then on 15 fails in 60 tests, ranked 12th of 47 tools tested. Plenty more... 23.08.07 - Then on 15 fails in 58 tests, ranked 11th of 40 tools tested. 26.07.07 - New entry to our table (since ousted). Then on 13½ fails in 53 tests, ranked 9th of 37 tools. Issues (i) and (iii) below not addressed. 25.07.07 - PC Answers mag (Sep 07) suggested IZArc, though only as a second choice to Windows own zip tool. 19.07.07 - 3rd of three zip tools featured in Web User magazine, so we retested it and found it had improved enough to get a 9th-place ranking in our blue table at that time. ver. 3.7 Testing aborted after several anomalies were experienced. 22.01.07 - "One of the best" (PC Utilities mag Issue 83, Feb 07). In view of that glowing comment, and an indication on the IZArc website that some two dozen fixes have been applied since version 3.5, we started to test it. This revealed IZArc still had major issues e.g. (iii) it cannot create an empty zip file on the Desktop (iv) it did not allow folders to be zipped when dragged on to an open IZArc window, only files [fixed by v3.81] (v) when extracting our test file, it lost the top-level text file and one of the sub folders. This failure to extract content accurately from a simple nested zip file was, of course, disastrous - so we gave up testing [fixed by v3.81]. ver. 3.5 3MB Trial aborted after 3 anomalies were experienced. 11.01.05 - 3rd freebie we ever tried. Trial aborted, three issues - (i) it might be possible to create an empty zip file on the Desktop through a dialog, but it was too tricky to establish if it could or couldn't, unlike the other programs tested, which quickly made it obvious one way or the other, (ii) according to the program's Help, you should be able to zip a file by dragging it onto an IZArc icon on the Desktop, but this would not work in Windows XP and, (iii) IZArc is supposed to allow files or folders to be zipped by dragging them on to the window of an opened zip file but, in Windows XP, it would only zip files and refused to zip folders [fixed in v3.81]. |
| jZip Freeware ver. 1.3 2.68MB 10.8.08 - Then on 12½ fails in 61 tests, ranked 10th of 48 tools tested. jZip uses same 7Z compression as 7-Zip but is newer and better. jZip has a 2-pane window, 7-Zip doesn't. JZip opens with a clean uncluttered window, 7-Zip doesn't. Described as being for users who "want the same kind of compression capabilities offered by ver. 1.2 2.31MB 18.1.08 - Then on 12½ fails in 61 tests, ranked 10th of 48 tools tested. Several items had been fixed in this release and it moved up a place in our blue table. ver. 1.1 2.31MB 12.12.07 - Then on 15 fails in 60 tests, ranked 11th of 47 tools. 26.10.07 - Then on 15 fails in 60 tests, ranked joint 10th of 46 tools. jZip ranks above 18.10.07 - Rated 5 stars by Computer Active magazine. ver. 1.0 1.63MB 30.08.07 - jZip new entry to blue table. 44th tool added to list. Then on 15½ fails in 59 tests, ranked 11th of 44 tools. jZip was brand new as of July 2007, so was virtually unheard of by anybody when first listed here. It was no mean feat for such a then small tool to leap into the top dozen at the first time of asking. Bad points were (i) whenever you adjusted its window position or (ii) window size, the tool failed to remember the settings the next time you opened it and, annoyingly, reverted to its own default size and position [both fixed by v 1.1] and, (iii) it forgot any changes made to the RH pane column widths. A fix for those three oversights should obviously be top of the agenda for the next release of jZip. |
| Optimal Archive Freeware ver. 1.138 1.63MB Testing halted due to limitations. 08.07.05 - We could not get our heads round this one. 138 editions and still like that?! Not in the same league as the leaders in our blue table. |
| PeaZip Open Source Freeware ver. 1.8 2.8MB Testing halted due to limitations. 01.06.08 - on PC Format mag's cover disk. More... 24.06.07 - 36th tool tested. Initially opens only as a wizard-type window, has a sparsely populated menu bar, has no toolbar buttons, and appears not to support drag and drop. Infuriating degree of minimalism, especially considering the program's relatively large size. |
| PentaZip Shareware ver. 7.x 23.86MB Not tested due to excessive size. 10.07.05 - At least twice the size and twice the price of almost every other zip tool in this list. Nearly ten times the size of WinZip 9, as it then was. And twenty times the size of WinRAR 3.7. So where's the point? We have no plans to test this one. ver. 7.1 22.6 MB £40. 01.11.04 - Rated 7/10 in PC Advisor magazine (Nov 04), which said Penta's main claim to fame was that it could read encrypted zip files produced by WinZip or PKZip, whereas they could not [then] read each other's. ver. 5.1 Shareware 01.06.03 - Featured in PC Advisor magazine and on its cover disk. |
| PicoZip Shareware ver. 4.02 2.95MB 12.12.07 - Then on 19½ fails in 60 tests, ranked about 16th of 47 tools tested. Plenty more... 28.08.07 - Then on 19½ fails in 58 tests, ranked about 14th of 43 tools tested. Some issues - (i) too many separate instances of nag screens (i.e. when (a) opening the tool (b) opening an archive (c) creating an archive (d) extracting an archive and (e) repairing an archive), (ii) the 2-pane folder-tree view worked inefficiently - you see folders in the left pane okay but only files in the right hand pane, no folders or subfolders, making it impossible to see exactly what is where in a nested zip file, (iii) you can't create an empty zip file on the desktop to drop stuff in, (iv) you can't drag a file into a nested zip file at any level, it goes in at the top level, (v) you can't drag a file out of a zip file from any level, (vi) you can't rename a file in an archive. And more. This tool has a lot of catching up still to do! 08.07.07 - Then on 13½ fails in 49 tests, ranked about 10th of 37 tools tested. More... ver. 3.01 3.8MB 04.05.05 - Details about this one on their Home web page indicated it would not challenge the leaders in our blue table so it was not tested. ver. 2.2, 18.01.05 - Featured in PC Answers magazine Feb 2005. |
| PKZip Enterprise Version 11 28.05.07 - This 'Enterprise' version of PKZip has not been tested as we only test standard (personal) versions of zip tools. The only noteworthy difference over v9 (below) was that the ability to create self-extracting archives was reintroduced in v11. Plenty more earlier comments... ver. 9 Standard 8.1MB Shareware PKZip screenshot 29.09.08 - Then on 7 fails in 63 tests, ranked 2nd of 48 tools tested. 17.08.07 - Then on 6 fails in 57 tests, ranked 2nd of 40 tools tested. A fine zip tool. PKZip took its name from the late Phil Katz, a US pioneer of file compression algorithms who created the ubiquitous .ZIP file format way back in 1989. If you right-click on any .ZIP file and choose Send To > Notepad, there, immediately before the start of all the gibberish, you will see his initials "PK" - immortalising forever the file signature by which all other compatible applications recognise if a compressed file is a genuine zip file. Some readers may well remember PKZip from the times of DOS and Windows 3.1, and may not realise those crude origins have been truly left behind in the more recent versions. After installing PKZip 9, it opens with a single-pane view so click View > Explorer View to obtain the required 2-pane folder-tree view. You should also right-click on the main toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar, and add the Up arrow icon to the current toolbar buttons. This can then be used to conveniently step up the folder tree in large nested zip files. IE5 or higher must be on your system as PKZip uses some of IE's system files, or IE6+ if you want to use PKZip's strong encryption ability. PKZip 9 dropped the heritage ability to create self-extracting archives (zip files with a .exe extension) so it was docked 1/2 a point in our tests. However, SFX archives are of no real use anymore as you can't send them to anybody with Windows because Outlook Express, Outlook and Hotmail all block them as being potentially unsafe (at 7/07), nor can you send them to people with Linux, Macintosh or Unix because they won't work on those systems. So don't worry about that particular feature being missing from PKZip 9 if that's the tool you want to use. 27.07.07 - Then on 5 fails in 53 tests, ranked 2nd of 37 tools. 27.05.07 - Then on 5 fails in 45 tests, ranked 2nd of 34 tools, behind SecureZIP 11 Free License Edition. 24.12.06 - Then on 5 fails in 44 tests, ranked 1st of 32 tools. 10.01.06 - Then on 4 fails in 43 tests, ranked 1st of 29 tools. 06.01.06 - Then on 4½ fails in 42 tests,
ranked 2nd of 29 tools behind ZipMagic 3. More earlier comments...ver. 8.0 8.4MB £16 16.07.05 - Then on 2½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 1st of 24 tools. 30.06.05 - PKZip was in our first online blue table. Then on 2½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 1st of 24 tools tested. 28.01.05 - 9th tool to be tried - has been very low profile for years but this release had moved with the times and was first tool that would prove to surpass our old ZipMagic 3, and easier to use, but had nag screens if you didn't pay. 10.06.04 - Computer Active magazine (June 2004) said "Much better than the built-in Windows Me and XP utility. 4 stars." ver. 2.5 Shareware 01.05.97 - Reviewed in PC Pro magazine May 1997 and featured on their Cover Disk. |
| PowerArchiver Shareware ver. 11.0 beta 1 6.88MB Testing halted after a drag and drop defect was experienced. 20.7.08 - Still suffers from issue (iv). Plenty more earlier comments... ver. 10.22.02 4.3MB Testing halted after a drag and drop defect was experienced. 17.7.08 - New issue (iv) when opening the tool from a shortcut there is usually stuff already in its window and, when there is, the tool stops allowing a folder to be dragged on to the window and zipped. WinRAR and TugZip are other tools which open with cluttered windows but do not share this drag and drop deficiency. ver. 10.2 beta 3 4.3MB £19.95 Testing halted after a drag and drop defect was experienced. 28.8.07 - First zip tool to follow Office 2007 and imitate the ribbon toolbar style of Photo Impact. New issue (iii) nested folders cannot be dragged intact to any level of a nested zip file [fixed by v10.22.02]. ver. 9.25 2.46MB Testing halted after 2 deficiencies were discovered. 22.07.05 - 25th tool tested. Has a single-pane file-list view by default but can be switched to a 2-pane folder-view. Issues - (i) fails to allow drag-and-drop to any level of a nested zip file [fixed by v10.2 b3], (ii) can create empty zip files but the program refuses to open them, possibly because of the drag-and-drop limitations [fixed by v9.25]. |
| PowerZip Shareware ver. 7.2 2.33MB Testing aborted due to limited functionality 11.06.07 - Bigger now, so tried to test. Has a single-pane flat folder-list view, the old WinRAR 3.51 style, but is less versatile than WinRAR. ver. 7.06 1.92MB 19.05.05 - 13th tool to be looked at but did not get tested at the time. |
| Quick Zip Freeware ver. 4.6 Beta 4.3MB Testing aborted after accumulating 16 fails. 14.07.05 - Has a modern two-pane folder-tree view but lacks the degree of drag-and-drop capability which should come with that. The overcomplicated Add dialog is too difficult, if not impossible, for the uninitiated to get to work as it ought to. Technically dependable and, score-wise, not too far behind the cream in our blue table. We gave it a second chance but, after two, separate, one-hour sessions of testing, we felt thoroughly frustrated. They have a nice, clear website at quickzip.org but, until the zip tool works as efficiently as their auto-sizing web pages, and is as easy to use as EnZip, we can't see any point in it. |
| SecureZip Express, formerly SecureZIP Free Licence Edition [for Win 2K,
XP, Vista, not 98 or Me] ver. 12.2 (SecureZip Express) Perpetual Free License Edition 13.7MB. Read more... 29.09.08 - Then on 6 fails in 63 tests, ranked 1st of 48 tools tested. Rebranded from former SecureZIP Free Licence Edition. Still free. The following info is brought forward from ver. 11 as it still applies... When installing SZX, accept the 'Typical' default installation not the 'Custom' install. When you first try to use SZX you will be bombarded by splash screens and scary encryption dialogs but all you have to do is go into Tools > Options where they can be disabled from popping up. After that, SZX will behave just as cleanly as sister tool PKZip 9 does. SZX still opens by default with a dated single-pane view so click View > Explorer View to obtain a contemporary 2-pane view. You should also right-click on the main toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar, from where you can add an 'Up' arrow icon to the toolbar buttons. This can then be used to step up the folder tree in nested zip files. ver. 12 (SecureZIP Free Licence Edition) 13MB 29.09.08 - Then on 6 fails in 63 tests, ranked 1st of 48 tools tested. 24.07.08 - Then gave 5 fails in 61 tests, ranked 1st of 48 tools tested. A fine zip tool but goes up another Meg in size. No noteworthy changes from v11 (see below) but, like v11 was, it is still available free for personal use. ver. 11 (SecureZIP Free Licence Edition) 11.9MB 17.08.07 - Then gave 5 fails in 57 tests, ranked 1st of 40 tools tested. SecureZIP 11 was by PKWare and looked identical to their excellent PKZip 9 tool, but with three upsides, namely (a) no nag screens on the Free License version (b) enhanced strong-encryption capability (including public key encryption) and (c) reinstatement of the ability to create self-extracting archives - plus three ignorable negatives, namely (a) 50% bigger (b) no reinstatement of the ability to repair damaged zip files and (c) the program's rewriters had managed to break it in Windows 98. You do not find out SecureZIP 11 is only for Windows 2K and XP until after you have downloaded and installed it, and only then if you read the ReadMe file. The most serious problems we experienced in Windows 98 (i.e. before we got to read the ReadMe!) were an inability to populate new archives via drag-and-drop or the Add button. But, for all Windows 2000+ users, this is a cracking zip tool well-deserving of the No. 1 spot in our test table. If a powerful zip tool is something you require, get it for free while you still can [this original free offer lasted one year]. The blue link above will take you to the magical Free License download page. 27.07.07 - Then gave 4 fails in 53 tests, ranked 1st of 37 tools tested. 24.06.07 - Then gave 3½ fails in 48 tests, ranked 1st of 37 tools. 27.05.07 - SecureZIP FLE new entry to blue table. 34th tool tested. Gave 3 fails in 45 tests, ranked 1st of 34 tools. 25.05.07 - Recommended in Web-User magazine. Had evidently existed since 2004 but without making much impact until released as a Free License edition in April 2007 (which lasted over a year). ver. 11 Standard 11.9MB Buyware $100 or £57 01.01.06 - Recommended in PC Pro magazine for the business network market because of "sysadmin-friendly touches for security policy enforcement". |
| Shellzip Freeware ver. 3.0 Beta 3 4.23MB Testing aborted after 2 defects were encountered. 20.01.06 - Only has a single-pane window. Had a disconcerting seashell wallpaper in its window until you put some content in it. The seashell shortcut icon seemed unappealing. When using the right-click > 'Extract here' option on a nested zip file on the Desktop, it splattered the contents all over the Desktop (i.e. failed to preserve the nested folder structure). Same defect even if using the 'Extract to (a folder)' option. There was no point continuing. Previous note under... ver. 3.0 Beta 1 4.3MB 09.07.05 - Could be download from snapfiles.com. Not tested at the time. |
| SimpleZip Freeware ver. 1.1 12.4MB Unable to test for reason given below. 25.08.07 - 41st 'tool' added to this list. Appears to exist in name only. Unable to find a genuine download site. |
| SimplyZip Shareware ver. 3.0 ??MB Not tested. 20.06.07 - 35th tool to be added to this page. Only has a single-pane window so is too behind the times. |
| Squeez Shareware ver. 5.60 for XP 4.1MB Testing aborted due to anomalies. 28.07.07 - 38th tool to be added to this page. First zip tool to incorporate an XP-style blue task pane down the left-hand side of its window - a glamorous look which could endear it to some XP users. We also loved its cuboid icon for zip files. Would require a few hours to learn how it will and (mainly) will not let you do the basic things. Some dialogs were still in German. Experienced a "Bad archive file format" erroneous warning message, suggestive of an unfixed bug. Gave up after that. A case of too much emphasis on aesthetics and not enough on the basics. Squeez can create as well as extract ZIP and 7z files and claims the same for RAR (not tried) as well as some ten lesser formats, and offers strong encryption. But needs more work. |
| StuffIt 9 Shareware ver. 9 11.7MB Testing abandoned due to annoyances. 18.06.05 - Stuffit now incorporates the same Zip Folders technology as ZipMagic. In common with other programs making the progression from Mac to Windows, StuffIt has brought with it some bewildering terminologies on its buttons and menus, which results in unexpected functionality when you first try to use the tool. Possibly nice enough once you have got the hang of it. But who needs an obstacle course just to use a Zip program? ver. 8.5 £26 01.12.04 - Rated 5 out of 6 stars in a modest review in Computer Buyer magazine Dec 2004. |
| SuperZip Shareware ver. 3.0 999KB Trial abandoned due to inadequacies. 08.02.06 - 32nd tool to be tried. Has only an outdated single-pane flat file-list view. Could not perform any functions on our nested test file. How does something this primitive pass as shareware? Super name, shame about the tool. |
| TUGZip Freeware ver. 3.4.0.2 3.81MB 12.12.07 - Then on 14 fails in 60 tests, ranked 10th of 47 tools tested. More... 20.08.07 - Then on 14 fails in 58 tests, ranked 11th of 40 tools tested. Scrapes into our blue table but not one for us. Issues - during testing, the dreaded "Access violation" warning dialog was seen again (recurrence of issue (ii) in v3.3), (viii) the tool's own icon for zip files was failing to show up in a My Documents' window in Details view, (ix) the Help file text size is too small - like a size 8 font instead of the usual 10, (x) you can't add text labels to the toolbar buttons, (xi) the interface labelling is the wrong way round i.e. the 2-pane view is called a 'Combined View' instead of an 'Explorer View' and the 3-pane view is called an 'Explorer View' instead of a 'Combined View', (xii) you can't create an empty zip file on the Desktop, (xiii) some other foibles inherited from earlier releases have not been sorted. If you are already using TUGZip, and are happy with it, okay. A similar-styled tool with no such issues is WinRAR 3.6+. 13.08.07 - Then on 15 fails in 55 tests, ranked 12th of 39 tools tested. 08.06.07 - Then on 13½ fails in 45 tests, ranked 9th of 34 tools. ver. 3.4 3.84MB 24.02.07 - TUGZip new entry to our table. Then on 13 fails in 44 tests, ranked 8th of 32 tools tested. Some previous foibles had been fixed. But we didn't like removal of the ability to create an empty zip file on the Desktop rather than fix issue (iii) below, also (iv) drag-and-drop support still limited, (vi) the Help file had not been updated - it welcomed you to "version 3.2", and (vii) the What's New list had not been updated since version 3.2. 23.02.07 - ComputerActive mag (Feb 2007) said "Excellent free alternative (to WinZip)." More... ver. 3.3 3.72MB Testing aborted due to too many foibles. 08.07.05 - Issues - (i) on the toolbar there was a blank row where the text labels for the buttons should have been, (ii) "Access violation" popup messages were experienced, suggestive of unfixed bugs, (iii) it could create empty zip files on the Desktop but was incapable of opening and making use of them [dodged in v 3.4], (iv) drag and drop support was extremely limited, even in its Explorer-view mode. Powerful and, on the whole, reliable but can't join the best in our blue table, not in this state. 17.04.05 - Brief recommendation in PC World magazine May 2005. |
| TurboZip Shareware ver. 7.1 6.2MB Testing aborted due to defects and foibles. 11.06.07 - Bigger in size so tried to test. Opens with an Explorer view but, as excused in the Help file, it could expand a zipped folder to show only the files in it, not any sub-folders that may also be in it. It unzipped our test file satisfactorily but we could not get it to re-zip it. Anytime the tool is reopened, its windows are full of clutter from previously-opened archives instead of being empty. Hardly any configurability. If you tried to put text labels under the toolbar buttons, the labels caused the tool's header to break up, and the tool defaulted back the next time it was opened, so the labels reverted to a space-wasting default of being alongside the buttons. Shareware? Who are they kidding? ver. 5.1 1.27MB 02.07.05 - 17th tool added to this page but not tested at the time. |
| UltimateZip Shareware ver. 3.2 2007 3.54MB 12.12.07 - Then on 15½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 13th of 47 tools tested. More... 20.08.07 - Then on 15½ fails in 58 tests, ranked about 12th of 40 tools tested. Issues - (i) the 2-pane folder-view's right pane would show only folders or files, not both when both existed at the same level, (ii) a file could not be dragged into an open zip file at any level, only at the top level, (iii) nested content cannot be extracted by drag and drop reliably, only by the Extract button, (iv) an empty usable zip file cannot be created. You can get round the first three issues via the program's integration with Windows Explorer, using Explorer's window - but that's cheating as it's just making use of Windows XP's built-in zip tool. UltimateZip faired the strongest on the 'Miscellaneous' tests' but is let down by being weaker on the basics. 27.07.07 - Then on 15 fails in 53 tests, ranked 13th of 37 tools tested. 30.06.07 - Then on 12½ fails in 49 tests, ranked 9th of 37 tools. 24.06.07 - Then on 12 fails in 48 tests, ranked 8th of 37 tools. 14.06.07 - Then on 13 fails in 45 tests, ranked 8th of 34 tools. 10.06.07 - Then on 12 fails in 45 tests, ranked 8th of 34 tools. ver. 3.0.3 2.49MB Shareware 26.08.05 - Then on 12 fails in 42 tests, ranked 7th of 28 tools tested. Now shareware, nag screens added. 2-pane folder-tree view option added. 01.08.05 - version 3.0.3 rated 9/10 in PC Plus magazine, Aug 2005. More below... ver. 2.7 3.4MB, Freeware 30.06.05 - Then on 13 fails in 45 tests, ranked 6th of 24 tools tested. 15.03.05 - 11th tool to be tried. Was the last no-nags freebie version. Can still be downloaded but no point as it only had a single-pane flat file-list view (like WinZip 8), and was functionally limited in other ways. 01.02.03 - Recommended in Web User magazine as a then WinZip clone minus the nags. ver. 2.6 3.2MB Freeware 26.04.02 - Recommended in PC Home magazine. |
| WinAce Shareware ver. 2.69 3.85MB Testing aborted due to lack of improvement. 06.04.08 - The 'German' problem (issue (i) below) has got worse in that the whole interface is now in German - it can be converted to English but nobody would think of looking where it says how. Issues (ii) and (iii) from the previous version still remain. ver. 2.65 3.62MB Testing aborted due to limitations. 26.08.07 - 43rd tool tested. There is a risk that you could download an ad-based freeware edition. Potentially could be a sophisticated tool. Some issues - (i) dialogue boxes during installation were in German, (ii) had only a 1-pane folder-view window of a zip file's content, (iii) would not allow selected files to be added or extracted at any level in a nested zip file. |
| WinPSF Freeware ver. 1.2 641KB Unable to test for reason given below. 20.09.07 - 46th tool added to this list. Unable to test as it had been restricted to handling only its native .PSF archiving format. |
| Windows zip tool See Compressed (zipped) Folders |
| WinRAR Shareware ver. 3.71 1.15MB 10.10.07 - Then on 9½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 4th of 46 tools tested. Still a delightfully tiny download with peculiarities a plenty to appease its cult followers. Has had a modern 2-pane window option only since v3.60. Unfortunately, it is still not the default view - you have to choose it from the Options menu or remember the keyboard shortcut toggles Ctrl+H and Ctrl+T. If you get lost with the views, as you will, open any zip file with nested folders in it and then, under Options, ensure, under 'File list' there is no tick and, under 'Folder tree' there are two ticks. Gawd knows why they made it so tricky to get to, or back to, a true 2-pane folder-tree view. Supports the popular .ZIP format but, unfortunately, that's still not the default either - you have to ferret under Options > Settings > Compression tab > Create default > where, at Archive format, you can change from RAR to ZIP. Thereafter, the native RAR format still remains readily available, within context menus and dialogs, for those who might want it i.e. to create or open local archives which are bigger than what the ZIP format supports, or which need strong encryption. Be warned that, just as you get used to the tool, and fall under its spell, two instances of a nag screen will suddenly start appearing as soon as the 40-day trial period expires! ver. 3.7 1.15MB 06.10.07 - Then on 9½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 4th of 46 tools tested. Aspects of WinRAR's toolbar and menu options are unconventional when compared with other leading zip tools causing over eight issues - (i) it's the only leading tool with no "New" button and no File > New option, (ii) WinRAR's two available extract buttons are labelled "Extract To" and "Extract", whereas other zip tools call the same two functions "Extract", and "Extract Here" (or similar), respectively - the result is that WinRAR's plain "Extract" button, when added to the toolbar, works the exact opposite to every other tool's, (iii) on the File menu of v3.7, they invented a puerile function labelled "Save archive copy as..." - instead of simply adopting the standard, and more useful "Save as..." convention (as you get with, say, PKZip), (iv) the Recent Files list only holds a measly 4 entries - much better if it held 10 like nearly every other zip tool, (v) it is the only leading tool with no Edit button or View button on the toolbar - so entries you would logically expect to find under those categories are either missing from WinRAR or have had to be stuck away in unexpected places, (vi) under the Command button's menu, there is an option "Rename file" - this is greyed-out inside an archive even though the equivalent F2 and right-click "Rename file" functions are not greyed-out (v3.7 bug?), (vii) the interrelated functions of "Test archive" and "Repair archive", for some inexplicable reason, are not next to each other on the right-click menu and, worse still, are not even under the same menu on the toolbar, (viii) there is no button or menu option for installing a program directly from a zip file - the option does exist but see if you can find it!. We could go on. WinRAR looks great but, as you can gather, once you go beyond the skin and start using the disorganised buttons and menus, you will find it leaves a bit to be desired compared with the other leading zip tools. 17.08.07 - Then on 8¾ fails in 57 tests, ranked 4th of 40 tools tested. 03.08.07 - Then on 8¼ fails in 55 tests, ranked 4th of 39 tools. 27.07.07 - Then on 6 fails in 53 tests, ranked joint 3rd of 37 tools. 19.07.07 - 1st of "Three of a kind" zip tools featured in Web User magazine. 14.07.07 - Then on 5½ fails in 50 tests, ranked joint 3rd of 37 tools. ver. 3.6 1.01MB 13.07.07 - Then on 6 fails in 50 tests, ranked 4th of 37 tools tested. Somebody at WinRAR, the same as at WinZip, must have noted our impartial test results because, in the two years since our comparison testing began, both WinRAR and WinZip have literally transformed their usability quotients. This release saw another big improvement, down from 12 fails in 49 tests for v3.51 to only 6 fails in 50 tests for v3.60. Most important was that a 2-pane window option finally appeared at long last, making life so much easier when exploring large archives. You can change views via a toolbar menu, or toggle them with the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+H and Ctrl+T. Reset to a 2-pane window via the toolbar menu. ver. 3.51 990KB 02.07.07 - Then on 12 fails in 49 tests, ranked 7th of 37 tools tested.24.06.07 - Then on 11 fails in 48 tests, ranked 7th of 37 tools. 14.06.07 - Then on 9¼ fails in 45 tests, ranked 7th of 34 tools. 24.12.06 - Then on 9¼ fails in 44 tests, ranked 6th of 32 tools. ver. 3.5 990KB $30 or £17 27.01.06 - Then on 9 fails in 43 tests, ranked 6th of 30 tools tested. WinRAR's adherence to a single-pane folder-list view has suddenly become the least up-to-date interface of any of the tools in our blue table now that WinZip 10 has got round to providing a two-pane folder-view. 21.01.06 - Then on 9 fails in 43 tests, ranked 6th of 29 tools. 10.01.06 - Gold Award in Web-User magazine Jan 06. 07.01.06 - Then on 8½ fails in 43 tests, ranked 5th of 29 tools. 01.01.06 - PC Pro magazine (Jan 2006) said "One of the fastest compression utilities available. A premiership player. Rated 5 out of 6 stars." 06.12.05 - Then on 7½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 4th of 29 tools. More... ver. 3.42 1.1MB 18.07.05 - Then on 9 fails in 42 tests, ranked 5th of 24 tools tested. Some important foibles were ironed out in this revision. Down from 16 fails to 9. This enabled WinRAR to jump above WinZip 9 briefly. More... ver. 3.3 982KB 30.06.05 - WinRAR was in our first online blue table. Then on 16 fails in 42 tests, ranked 7th of 24 tools tested. WinRAR's single-pane flat folder-view could be toggled to a flat file-list view that would also include a flat list of all folder icons in the zip file, if any. Superior to WinZip 9's flat file-list style, but inferior to the 2-pane folder-view styles of PKZip, EnZip and Compressed (zipped) Folders. 14.01.05 - 7th zip tool to be tried. Seemed too much like hard work compared with ZipMagic 3 or Windows' Compressed (zipped) Folders. |
WinRK File Archiver Shareware
12.12.07 - Then on 16½ fails in 60 tests, ranked 15th of 47 tools tested. 17.08.07 - Then on 16½ fails in 57 tests, ranked about 12th of 40 tools tested. This must be RK as in "The Rubik Kube of zip tools!" Definitely hard work. Has an initial bias towards its own .RK file format, and its own tricky way of going about certain things. Has the busiest interface of all the zip tools, opening some ways with as many as four panes (two empty), other ways with two panes (both empty), all adding to the confusion. Allow plenty of perseverance time for this one! 27.07.07 - Then on 14 fails in 53 tests, ranked 12th of 37 tools. 08.07.07 - Then on 16 fails in 49 tests, ranked 12th of 37 tools. 08.06.07 - Then on 16 fails in 45 tests, ranked 10th of 34 tools. 24.12.06 - Then on 15½ fails in 44 tests, ranked 8th of 32 tools. 27.01.06 - Then on 14 fails in 43 tests, ranked 8th of 30 tools. 11.01.06 - Then on 13½ fails in 43 tests, ranked 8th of 29 tools. 01.01.06 - PC Pro magazine (Jan 2006) said "The best compression ratios bar none [but only If using its native .RK file format]. The extensive configuration options are confusing". 22.08.05 - 13½ fails in 42 tests (6½./10), ranked 8th of 28 tools. 21.08.05 - Rated 9/10 in PC Plus Magazine [but see our tests, the following day (next line above)]. |
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| WinUha DonateWare ver. 2.0 1.4MB Unable to test for reason given below. 25.08.07 - 42nd zip tool added to this list. Has a modern 2-pane folder-tree view by default but it could not be tested on a level playing field because the option to default it to .ZIP files was permanently disabled. |
| WinZip Shareware ver. 11.1 8.95MB [for Win 2K, XP or Vista] $30 17.08.07 - Then on 8½ fails in 57 tests, ranked 3rd of 40 tools tested. Back in 2005, our inaugural tests revealed this famous tool was languishing a third of the way down our rankings. WinZip was once the second-worst offender for nag screens, generating them on no less than three separate operations (when opening the tool, closing the tool or opening a zip file). The last two have now been ditched - at least, during the evaluation period. WinZip previously could not repair faulty zip files but now claims (in its Help file) to incorporate automatic repair. WinZip remains truly dominant as the best known, most-used, and most popular zip tool in the whole universe - thanks in no small part to having the best name of any zip tool bar none. Enjoys a long track record for being efficient, capable and totally dependable. Hats off to the new owner Corel for dragging WinZip out of the doldrums. But be vigilant during the new WinZip setup process or you could find yourself opted in to downloaded additional software which might be massive and shareware you didn't want. Plenty more earlier comments... 03.08.07 - Then on 7½ fails in 55 tests, ranked 3rd of 39 tools tested. 13.07.07 - Then on 5½ fails in 50 tests, ranked 3rd of 37 tools. 26.06.07 - Then on 5 fails in 49 tests, ranked 2nd of 37 tools. ver. 11 7.35MB 24.06.07 - Then on 6½ fails in 48 tests, ranked 4th of 37 tools tested. WinZip had bloated yet again with this latest release without adding anything, except strong encryption was now in the Standard version. Sale of WinZip to Corel about to be concluded. 17.12.06 - Then on 6½ fails in 44 tests, ranked 3rd of 32 tools. ver. 10 5.56MB $30 10.01.06 - Then on 6½ fails in 43 tests climbed to 3rd of 29 tools tested. WinZip, traditionally a fairly small application, had doubled in size with this new release. But the long-overdue introduction of a modern, 2-pane, folder-tree view, as an option to their dated flat file-list display, was good news. 23.12.05 - PC Utilities magazine (Jan 2006) said, of the brand new Explorer View, "It's criminal they didn't do it sooner". More... ver. 9 2.4MB 19.08.05 - Then gave 11½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 6th of 27 tools tested. 01.08.05 - PC Plus magazine rated it 9/10. But our tests three weeks earlier had found WinZip to be the only major player then still adhering to just a single-pane file-list view of a zip file's contents - instead of either a folder-list view (like WinRAR at the time) or, better-still, a folder-tree view (like PKZip). 23.07.05 - Then gave 11½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 6th of 25 tools. Sale of WinZip to owners of Corel was in hand. 30.06.05 - WinZip was in our first online blue table. Then gave 11 fails in 42 tests, ranked 5th of 24 tools. ver. 8 $29 or £20 01.12.02 - Internet magazine said "WinZip runs forever despite the nag messages". 01.01.00 - Net magazine said "A utility no self-respecting internet or email user should be without, rated 5 stars". ver. 7 01.09.99 - Internet Made Easy magazine awarded it 5 stars, 01.04.99 - Net magazine said "WinZip is the best". 01.03.99 - PC Advisor magazine said "This product is still not that user-friendly... 7/10". ver. 6 01.09.98 - ComputerActive magazine (Sep 98) recommended it as a means of compressing big files into one smaller zip file so as to squeeze onto a floppy disk or to span over several floppies. |
| ZipCentral Freeware ver. 4.01 1.36MB Testing aborted after 2 defects were experienced. 12.07.05 - This re-test confirmed the program still included a special popup message deceptively blaming an error on the zip files, presumably to avoid fixing an obviously-known bug. No similar message has ever been seen in any other tool so the problem was not in the zip file. Earlier comments... 08.01.05 - First-ever freebie to be tried. Test aborted after two defects were experienced on two different PCs, one using Windows 2000, the other using Windows XP, namely (i) when unzipping a zip file to the Desktop, an error message would pop up insinuating that the zip file format was not valid and (ii) clicking the OK button on the aforesaid error-message dialog would enable the program to continue to extract something but, if the file contained more than one item, it would sometimes only extract one of them. |
| ZipGenius Freeware ver. 6.0.3 8.8MB Not tested due to problems with the initial interface. 31.12.07 - We were suspicious of variations in the file size when downloading from different sites. We received files of 5MB, 5.5MB and 8.8MB. That might explain the off-putting inconsistencies with the tool's interface we experienced with the different downloads. When you open the tool for the very first time by double-clicking its icon on the Desktop, it opens with a single-pane wizard-type screen so, presumably, it's aimed at beginners. But, if you open the tool by double-clicking on a zip file, it then opens with a split window with a Windows XP-style task pane down the left side but, on the right-side, there is an old-fashioned single-pane file-list view, which is anything but suitable for beginners. To try to get a to modern 2-pane folder-view, that anybody can understand, you immediately have to struggle with the tool's Options. After choosing the Folder View option, that gave the expected expandable folder tree in the left pane but still only a confusing flat file-list view in the right pane. On one of the downloads, after closing the tool, it unsatisfactorily forgot the 2-pane setting and defaulted back to the task pane & file-list view the next time it was opened. On a different download of the tool, this time, when reopening the tool, it could be seen momentarily trying to revert to the default task pane view before almost reluctantly skipping to the folder view. But, again, the same incomplete folder-view as before. We gave up after that - we can't rate a tool while it is falling at the first hurdle. ver. 6.0.2 9MB Not tested due to limitations. 17.05.05 - Largish size. Not tested because details about it on their Home web page indicated it would not trouble the leaders in our blue table. 24.06.04 - Recommended by a reader in Web-User magazine. |
| ZipMagic BuyWare ver. 9 11.7MB This version not tested. 23.06.07 - ZipMagic 9 is buyware so cannot be downloaded for testing. The tests we did do were on the earlier ZipMagic 3. In the time between versions 3 and 9, ZipMagic changed ownership twice, nearly tripled in size, had been integrated with an obscure zip tool called StuffIt, and now needed at least Windows 2000 for the patented Zip Folders mode to work. The current version is known to incorporate a two-pane window so it would probably rank higher than our old single-pane version 3. 01.07.05 - ZipMagic 9 was out, but could not be downloaded for testing. Earlier comments for ZipMagic follow... ZipMagic 2000 (Version 3) 4.62MB 05.10.07 - Then with 9½ fails in 60 tests, ranked equal 4th of 46 tools tested. 17.08.07 - Then with 9 fails in 57 tests, ranked 5th of 40 tools tested. At the time we bought ZipMagic 3, it was the cutting-edge zip tool because of its patented 'Zip Folders' mode. Indeed, it was another 7 years before WinZip (as of ver 11.1) actually overtook ZipMagic 3 in our rankings. This older version is still in use on one of our Windows 98 machines, and no doubt still has other users out there. ZipMagic 3 differed from all other zip tools in that it had two modes. There was the basic mode, which used the tool's own window, like most other zip tools, and there was the Zip Folders mode - which still allowed the tool's window, and context menus, but also allowed zipping directly in the window of Windows Explorer. The ease of being able to work almost entirely within Windows Explorer has always enabled ZipMagic to rate extremely highly in our test-table, even to this day still. A Google search for an old, shareware version of ZipMagic will throw up 100's of links but they invariably lead to imposter-sites, including plenty of booby-trapped ones. The sole exception appears to be tucows.mundofree which offers ZipMagic 2000, ver 3.55. But, before jumping in, bear in mind ZipMagic 3 has a steep learning curve and, in any case, is ranked behind much easier tools to use like PKZip 9 and WinZip 11.1. 13.07.07 - Then with 6½ fails in 50 tests, ranked 5th of 37 tools. 24.06.07 - Then with 5½ fails in 48 tests, ranked 3rd of 37 tools. 27.05.07 - Then with 5 fails in 45 tests, ranked 3rd of 34 tools. 24.12.06 - Then with 5 fails in 44 tests, ranked 2nd of 32 tools. 08.01.06 - Then with 4½ fails in 43 tests, ranked 2nd of 29 tools. 06.01.06 - Then with 3½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 1st of 29 tools. 16.07.05 - Then with 3½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 2nd of 24 tools. 30.06.05 - ZipMagic 3 was in our first online blue table. Then with 3½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 2nd of 24 tools. 08.05.05 - Then with 3½ fails in 42 tests, ranked 1st of 24 tools. 01.01.00 - The second zip tool we ever installed on our PCs, replacing Zip Manager. |
| Zip Manager Antiquated paid-for program ver. 1.03 612KB 24.08.07 - Then on 23 fails in 58 tests of 40 tools tested, and unranked in our test-table. Zip Manager was a component In a third-party utility suite for Windows 95. It is the second-smallest and most antiquated zip tool subjected to our tests. The justification for including it in our test-table, albeit in a greyed-out column, is that it is still on one of our Windows 98 machines. And that it did survive all the way through all of our tests - which is more than can be said for many of its more modern counterparts. And that it had the best icon of all for denoting a zip file, a smart blue and yellow zipper (see top row of our blue table). Meant for Windows 95, but worked okay on Windows 98. Not suitable for later versions of Windows, and obviously not a tool one would contemplate using in this day and age no matter how old one's operating system. More... 30.06.05 - Then on 23 fails in 45 tests of 24 tools tested, and unranked in our test-table. 30.12.95 - The first zip tool we ever had on any of our Windows computers. Reliable and dependable but horribly utilitarian and unintuitive by later standards. |
| ZipSee Shareware ver. 1.20 2.27MB Not tested due to evident limitations 09.08.05 - 27th tool to be considered. Originally known as Zip-it. We saw nothing on their download site to make us think it was worth testing. |
| ZipStar Freeware ver. 5.60 for XP 2.56MB Not tested due to limitations 17.12.07 - 48th tool added to this page. If you try to open a zip file by double-clicking on the file's icon, the file will look as if it has opened in ZipStar, but it has actually opened in a My Computer window so is using the built-in Windows' zip tool. Bit of a swizz really. If you want a 2-pane view, you can right-click on a zip file and choose Explore but, again, it will be using the Windows' zip tool. So, where's the point? It would be much simpler just to use the Windows' tool all the time. ZipStar's default file format is SQF (SQueez Format) but it can be changed to ZIP as the default. ZipStar is, in fact, a lite version of Squeez. |
| ZipZag Shareware ver. 1.80 4MB Testing aborted due to unreliability and anomalies. 28.07.07 - 39th tool added to this page. There's a 4 sec wait for a splash screen to count down so you can click an OK button, followed by a splash symbol, before the tool opens. Opens with a satisfactory 2-pane folder-tree view except the window is not empty, nor can you drag items on it to be zipped. Would not archive by right-clicking on stuff on the Desktop, yet okay when retried 20.9.07. Could not rezip the content of our test file in .ZIP format, yet okay when retried 20.9.07. Defaults to the .7z format, was not obvious how to change it to default to .zip. Cannot create an empty, usable zip file. Several more anomalies experienced, including a dreaded "Access violation" warning message, suggestive of some unfixed bug. Gave up after that. |