Download and install the archiver. Most downloaded games are archives whose formats are not supported by Windows. To unpack the archive and extract from it game files, archiving software is required. The most popular archivers are 7-Zip (7-zip.org) and WinRAR (rarlab.com).

• 7-Zip is free archiver, capable of decompressing most archives, including RAR and 7z archives. It is recommended to install this particular archiver.
• The trial version of the WinRAR archiver will allow you to unpack most of the archives, but after a certain time you need to buy this program.

Download and install a torrent client. Most games are distributed via BitTorrent - this is a popular exchange method big files between computers. To use BitTorrent, you need a torrent client that downloads torrent files and links your computer with other users' computers. One of the most popular free clients is qBittorrent (qbittorrent.org). With qBittorrent, you don't have to worry about malware or unwanted software; if you choose another client, such as uTorrent, carefully read the information in the game installation wizard window so as not to install unwanted software.

Archivers are programs that can put multiple files into one big file called an archive. The archive is convenient to store, copy, send and so on. As a rule, all archivers also have the function of compressing the information contained in archive files, which reduces the total amount of required disk space.

A modern archiver is not only a program for compressing files. To date, these programs are equipped with an increasing arsenal of functions, for example, backing up information through archives with saving information to remote server, burning to disk, sending files by e-mail and even sharing files on social networks.

For testing, we chose five popular archiving programs with an interface in Russian: WinRAR, 7-Zip, WinZIP, Hamster Free Zip Archiver and PowerArchiver. The compression ratio was tested in various modes on three sets of files:

• The documents. This set of files consisted only of DOC documents ( Microsoft Word) and XLS ( Microsoft Excel). On this set of files, the degree of compression was checked at the maximum settings of the archiving algorithms of various programs. The package size is 3.81 MB, there are 36 files in the package.
• Photo. This set of files contained 13 JPEG photographs taken with a digital camera. The package size is 79.2 MB. This batch of photographs was used to evaluate the performance of compression algorithms when dealing with difficult (already compressed) data. As is known, jpeg format- this is already a compressed image and compressing it even more is problematic. If the program can at least slightly reduce the volume of these files, this will already be a huge plus. The main thing is that the amount of storage does not increase.
• Office. This is how we named the package, which consists of the program files installed in the Program Files folder. Microsoft Office. The total number of files here was 2080, subfolders - 128, and the total size - 855 MB. The purpose of this package is to see how fast compression occurs in different programs and modes, and how well programs pack such heterogeneous files.

WinRAR

The word archiver is almost always associated with the WinRAR program. It is a kind of standard for archiving files. However, the functionality of the program has not changed much over the years. But competitors do not stand still, and already many archiving programs, some of which have already turned into entire file processing combines, have gone far ahead both in terms of compression ratio and available functionality.

But what cannot be taken away from this program is the utmost simplicity, clarity and convenience. WinRAR is so intuitive that you can use it quite naturally. And yet, the program in our tests shows average results even at high compression ratios. You can download the program for review on the official WinRAR website. There are always posted the most latest versions programs. Hint: you need to scroll down and find the localized version of Russian. If you need a different interface language, look for your language.

7-zip

7-Zip is a simple free archiver that uses its own unique 7z format for archiving, which has a very high compression ratio. At the same time, the data processing speed of this algorithm remains comparable to similar algorithms. On the "Documents" and "Office" packages, the degree of compression by this program is noticeably ahead of all other methods. The photo package also shrunk very well.

The 7z algorithm is built into many multi-archivers, so this program can be used either directly or as part of another archiver, which includes the 7z algorithm. 7-Zip can be downloaded from the official website of the developer.

winzip

The WinZIP program has absorbed the entire evolution of compression algorithms under the general name ZIP. When archiving, you can choose old version algorithm, as well as new modifications, or let the program itself choose the optimal compression ratio. And here WinZIP showed itself from an unexpected side. He was the only one of all the programs that was able to compress a package with photos by as much as 20%. The nearest value of the rest lies within 0.5%! Thus, WinZIP can help save 20 percent of the space when storing JPEG photos.

The program also has many additional features- this is a backup of your documents (full, incremental, differential backup), writing the archive to a removable disk, sending the created archive by e-mail, downloading to FTP server and even the publication of the created archive on Facebook. You can download a trial version of the program from the official WinZIP website.

Hamster Free Zip Archiver

The uniqueness of this program is not in the degree of compression and not in the rich functionality, but just the opposite. This is an extremely simple archiver that can pack ZIP and 7z files. There is nothing superfluous in the program. Of the settings for compression, there is only a choice of archiving format, compression level and file name. It can also divide archives into volumes (like all other programs without exception) and set a password for the archive.

The value of this utility is more in convenience and a beautiful interface. The archive is created in a few clicks in wizard mode, and a successful animation translucent window process makes a good impression. The compression ratio of the program practically does not differ from analogues. Unless, with minimal compression, the program practically does not reduce files in size, and with maximum compression, it sometimes takes too long, but this is already a whim of the algorithms. The official site for downloading the program is located. The program is Russified and free.

PowerArchiver

It fully deserves its name. Really powerful archive harvester. It supports many compression formats: ZIP, 7-ZIP, CAB, LHA, BH, TAR, it can also support RAR, but you need to specify the path to the executable file of this archiver in the settings. Can unpack many formats. In fact, it is an aggregator of various algorithms and programs in a single shell.

The functionality is not limited to archiving. There is an FTP manager, a disk burner, and functionality Reserve copy. The latter allows you to create backup scripts for backup in automatic mode in user defined time. And even with unloading the archive to the specified storage. For example, to an FTP server. You can download PowerArchiver.

Test results

When compressed Microsoft documents Office the best turned out to be the 7-Zip archiver using the LZMA2 algorithm. Approximately the same result was shown by programs using this algorithm. WinZIP and PowerArchiver show noticeable best result than when using the ZIP algorithm in the WinRAR program, which ended up in the very tail. To compress this package of files, methods of maximum compression were used. The algorithm used by the program is indicated in brackets. For review, data on the CAB and TAR GZip algorithms are also given.

Photo files, for all their incompressibility, could only be compressed by WinZIP. Moreover, the compression turned out to be significant: about 20% of the space saved. An improved ZIPx algorithm was used with the option of self-detection best method compression. PowerArchiver blundered in this case, although it used the same algorithm. Only this program produced a file that is larger than the original data. Here are the results:

When compressing files from the "Office" package, not only the resulting compression was taken into account, but also the execution time spent by different algorithms and programs. Let's take a look at the maximum compression first:

Note the inefficiency of the old ZIP algorithm in WinRAR programs and Hamster Free Zip Archiver. However, in the first program, he worked the fastest. Perhaps this observation can be used to quick creation archives. Again, 7-ZIP and its 7z algorithm turned out to be a cut above. But the RAR algorithm surprised me. Surprised not by the compression ratio, which is pretty good, surprised by the speed with which he did it. It worked 2-3 times faster than the 7z algorithm and showed good compression at the same time. In fact, he won this race!

Speaking of racing. Now the data that was obtained in the fast compression mode. The package of files is the same - "Office". But in this case, we used the lowest possible compression ratio in each of the algorithms, transferring them to high-speed mode. Here is the data we were able to collect:

As you can see, in fact, the first three results are not compression at all, but simply saving to the archive. And here one drawback of the Hamster Free Zip Archiver program appears. This program has only three compression ratio settings: minimum, medium and maximum. The minimum compression does not compress at all, the maximum - sometimes too long. For the ZIP algorithm in PowerArchiver, this can be fixed by setting a slightly higher compression, but the above program will have to use a medium compression ratio.

The algorithm of the 7-Zip program was ahead in terms of the degree of compression here, but it also took one and a half times the longest. Therefore, its result cannot be indicative. It turns out that WinRAR won again in terms of the combination of speed and compression ratio with the fastest possible compression. And most importantly, the result of his work is predictable. We got exactly what we expected from him.

Imagine! You have been making some kind of report at home that you will need today. You just finished and you need to quickly copy everything to a "flash drive" and run. There are a lot of files, a complete mess on the device, and you only have five minutes. You decide to quickly throw all the files into an archive and throw them on a “flash drive” in order to figure it out at work. Some archivers will not compress anything. Others, with their overly complex interface, will take a long time to find desired files and adding to the archive. And 7-ZIP can just take a long time. And only WinRAR, with its intuitiveness and thoughtfulness, fast compression even at maximum settings, will provide you with the simple expected solution: task - tool - result.

Results

So who won? All programs are good. 7-ZIP - if you need powerful compression for free. Hamster Free Zip Archiver - if you need a simple free utility- archiver. Classic WinRAR is suitable for almost everyone. Moreover, the program can be used after trial period. It will only be necessary to close one annoying window. Paid WinZIP, if only you need to archive photos. Well, PowerArchiver is more powerful with the additional functionality that it provides.

Most popular programs for file compression WinRAR, 7-Zip, WinZip are considered. They differ in their characteristics, the degree and speed of file compression, the number of supported formats. The 7-Zip archiver provides the highest compression ratio, and WinRAR is more common in terms of the number of supported formats for archiving. This program has clear interface and a lot of useful options.

You can find archiving programs in free access on the Internet, as well as in online stores (in different versions). After downloading the program file, you will need to install it on your PC. In some cases, you need to register your copy of the program by clicking on the appropriate button.

How to compress a file

The file compression ratio can be set in the archiver settings. The minimum compression size is 1.3-1.4, it is available for the standard Windows archiver. To compress a file with a factor of 4-5, you will need to use one of the many third-party archivers. Do not forget that with strong file compression, the processing time of files will increase, and for their subsequent recovery, you need to add the self-extracting function to the settings, you can add a password, etc. These options are not available for all standard archivers, but only for paid programs.

The biggest savings come from archiving text files, and photos and pictures in TIF, BMP, JPG or JPEG formats will not save much space. If you need to archive a very large video file, you can split it into separate parts - volumes that will correspond to the specified sizes. If it is possible to compare the degree of compression of files in different archive programs, you need to do this, then it will be clear which program is better to use.

In order to archive documents, you need to right-click on desired folder call context menu and select "Add to archive".

After that, it will be possible to configure the necessary archiving parameters: select desired format archive, update method, compression, the ability to divide into volumes, test the archive after compression, etc. You need to select in the field "Split into volumes" and set the upper limit of each part of the archive (volume).

If it becomes necessary to restore files from an archive, the actions should be similar: right-clicking on the desired archive opens the context menu and selects the necessary parameters: folder name, archive unpacking settings.

With the current volume of files on the Internet, it is very important to be able to work with them quickly. This requires that they have a small volume and are kept together. In this case, a compressed archive is suitable, which allows you to store files in one folder, while reducing their weight. In this article, we will analyze programs that can compress files and decompress them.

Programs that can compress, decompress and perform other actions with archives are called archivers. There are many of them, and each differs in its functionality and appearance. Let's figure out what kind of archivers exist.

Of course, the most famous and one of the most used archivers is WinRAR. Works with this software great amount people, as it has a lot of advantages and can do almost everything that any other archiver can do. The degree of file compression through WinRAR sometimes reaches 80 percent, depending on the file type.

It also has additional features, such as encryption or recovery of damaged archives. The developers also thought about security, because in WinRAR you can set a password for a compressed file. The advantages of the program can also include SFX-archives, sending archives by mail, convenient file manager and much more, but to the minuses - limited quantity days of using the free version.

7-Zip

The next candidate on our list would be 7-Zip. This archiver is also popular among users and it has a lot of useful additional features. There is support for AES-256 encryption, multi-threaded compression, the ability to test for corruption, and much more.

As in the case of WinRAR, the developers did not forget to add a little security and included setting a password for the archive into the functionality. Among the minuses, complexity stands out very much, which is why some users may not understand the principles of operation, but if you figure it out, the software can be quite useful and almost indispensable. Unlike previous software, 7-Zip is completely free.

winzip

This software is not as popular as the previous two, but it also has many advantages that I would like to note. The most important difference of this archiver is that it is designed as if the user could be a completely unfamiliar person. Everything in it is done as conveniently and beautifully as possible, but the developers also took care of additional functions. For example, resizing (not volume) an image, adding a watermark, converting files to *.pdf and the most interesting is working with social networks and email to send archives. Unfortunately, the program is not free and it has a very short trial period.

J7Z

J7Z is a simple and user-friendly compressed file manager with just a few extra features. The most useful of them include the choice of compression level and, of course, encryption. Another plus is that it is free, but the developers did not add the Russian language to it.

IZArc

This software is also not as well known as its counterparts above, however, it has a lot of additional features added by developers during updates. One of these functions is the conversion of archives to another format, and in addition to them, you can also convert disk images. The program also has encryption, support for self-extracting archives, many formats, setting a password and other tools. The only downside to IZArc is that it lacks full support for *.rar without the possibility of creating such an archive, but this shortcoming does not greatly affect the quality of work.

ZipGenius

As in the case of the previous software, the program is known only in narrow circles, but has a huge amount of additional features. ZipGenius can do everything that IZArc can, except for changing the type of archives and images. However, in IZArc, as in many other archivers, there is no possibility of creating a slide show from pictures, unpacking for burning, viewing archive properties, which is in this software. These features make ZipGenius a bit unique compared to other archivers.

PeaZip

This archiver is one of the most convenient thanks to its appearance, which is similar to Windows Explorer. It has a lot useful features, even those that provide security. For example, a password generator that will allow you to create a strong key to protect your data. Or a password manager that lets you store them under a specific name to make it easier to use them as you type. Due to its versatility and convenience, the program has a lot of pluses and almost no minuses.

KGB Archiver 2

This software is the best in terms of compression among the rest. Even WinRAR cannot be compared with it. In that software there is also a password setting for the archive, self-extracting archives, etc., but there are also disadvantages in it. For example, he works very long with file system, plus, he has not had updates since 2007, although he does not lose ground without them.

That's the whole list of programs for compressing files. Each user will have to taste his own program, but it depends on the goal you are pursuing. If you want to compress files as much as possible, then KGB Archiver 2 or WinRAR will definitely suit you. If you need a tool that is as full of functionality as possible that will help you replace many other programs, then ZipGenius or WinZip will come in handy here. But if you just need a reliable, free and popular software for working with archives, then there will be no equal 7-ZIP.

FileOptimizer is a free open source utility source code to compress files of different formats without quality loss. The behavior and functionality of such files remain unchanged, and the size is reduced through several compression and optimization techniques.

System requirements:
Windows 10 | 8 | 7 | vista | XP (x64-x86)
Windows Server 2016 | 2012 | 2008 | 2003 (x64-x86)

Torrent Lossless File Compression - FileOptimizer 12.50.2231 + Portable in detail:
The program is distinguished by a simple and intuitive interface, ease of use, integration of third-party plug-ins, as well as the ability to automate through the console interface and command line. Supports Drag-and-Drop.

List of supported formats:
.3G2, .3GG, .3GP, .7Z, .A, .AAI, .AC, .ACC, .ADP, .AI, .AIR, .APK, .APNG, .APPX, .APR, .ART, .ART , .AVI, .AVS, .BAR, .BMP, .BPG, .BPL, .BSZ, .CBT, .CBZ, .CDR, .CDT, .CHI, .CHM, .CHQ, .CHS, .CHW, . CIN, .CMYK, .CMYKA, .CPL, .CSL, .CSS, .CUR, .DB, .DB, .DCX, .DDS, .DEB, .DES, .DIB, .DLL, .DOC, .DOCM, .DOCX, .DOT, .DOTM, .DOTX, .DPX, .DRV, .DWF, .DWFX, .EAR, .EASM, .EML, .EMLX, .EPDF, .EPDF, .EPRT, .EPUB, .EXE , .FAX, .FAX, .FB2, .FDF, .FITS, .FLA, .FLAC, .FLV, .FPX, .FPX, .FXG, .FXG, .GALLERY, .GALLERYCOLLECTION, .GALLERYITEM, .GIF, . GRAY, .GRS, .GZ, .HDR, .HRZ, .HTM, .HTML, .ICB, .ICL, .ICO, .ICO, .INK, .INLINE, .IPA, .IPK, .IPSW, .ITA, .ITS, .ITZ, .J2C, .J2K, .JAR, .JFI, .JFIF, .JIF, .JNG, .JP2, .JPC, .JPE, .JPEG, .JPG, .JPS, .JPT, .JS , .JSON, .KML, .KMZ, .KMZ, .KSF, .LIB, .LIT, .LUA, .LUAC, .LXF, .LZL, .LZMA, .M4A, .M4B, .M4P, .M4R, . M4V, .MAX, .MBX, .MCE, .MDB, .MDT, .MDZ, .MHT, .MHT, .MHTML, .MHTML, .MIC, .MIF, .MIFF, .MIX, .MIZ, .MK3D, .MKA, .MKS, .MKV, .MMIP, .MNG, .MONO, .MOV, .MP3 , .MP4, .MPC, .MPD, .MPEG, .MPG, .MPO, .MPP, .MPP, .MPR, .MPT, .MSC, .MSG, .MSG, .MSI, .MSL, .MSP, . MST, .MSZ, .MTV, .MTW, .MVG, .MVZ, .MZZ, .NAR, .NBK, .NOTEBOOK, .O, .OBJ, .OCX, .ODB, .ODF, .ODG, .ODP, .ODS, .ODT, .OEX, .OGA, .OGG, .OGG, .OGV, .OGX, .OGX, .OLE, .OLE2, .ONE, .OPT, .OSK, .OST, .OTB, .OXPS , .P7, .PALM, .PBM, .PCC, .PCD, .PCDS, .PCL, .PCLS, .PCX, .PDB, .PDF, .PFM, .PFS, .PGM, .PIC, .PICON, . PICT, .PK3, .PNG, .PNM, .PNS, .POTM, .POTX, .PPAM, .PPM, .PPS, .PPSM, .PPSX, .PPT, .PPTM, .PPTX, .PSB, .PSD, .PTIF, .PTIF, .PTIFF, .PTIFF, .PUB, .PUB, .PUZ, .QT, .QWK, .R2SKIN, .RA, .RAM, .RDB, .RFA, .RFG, .RFT, .RGB , .RGBA, .RLL, .RM, .RMSKIN, .RMVB, .RTE, .RV, .RVT, .S3Z, .SCR, .SGI, .SGML, .SLDASM, .SLDDRW, .SLDM, .SLDPRT, . SLDX, .SMIL, .SOU, .SPL, .SPO, .SQLITE, .SQLITE2, .SQLITE3, .STZ, .SUN, .SVG, .SVGZ, .SWC, .SWF, .SYS, .TAR, .TGA, .TGZ, .THM, .TIF, .TIFF, .UYVY, .VBX, .VCARD, .VCF, .VDA, .VDX, .VICAR, .VIFF, .VLT, .VOB, .VSD, .VSS, .VST , .VST, .VSX, .VTX, .WAL, .WAR, .WBA, .W BMP, .WEBA, .WEBM, .WEBP, .WIZ, .WMA, .WMV, .WMZ, .WPS, .WSZ, .X, .XAP, .XBM, .XHTML, .XHTML, .XL, .XLA, .XLAM, .XLC, .XLM, .XLS, .XLSM, .XLSX, .XLTM, .XLTX, .XLW, .XML, .XML, .XMZ, .XNK, .XPI, .XPM, .XPS, .XSF , .XSL, .XSLT, .XSN, .XWD, .YCBR, .YCBRA, .YUB, .Z01, .Z02, .Z03, .Z04, .Z05, .Z06, .Z07, .Z08, .Z09, . .ZX01, .ZX02, .ZX03, .ZX04, .ZX05, .ZX05, .ZX06, .ZX07, .ZX08, .ZX09, .ZX10, STICKYNOTES.SNT, THUMBS.DB

Peculiarities:
· More than 90 third-party integrated plugins in one program.
· More than 400 file extensions are supported, which makes the tool one of the best in its category.
·Intelligent detection of file types by analyzing its contents, regardless of what extension they have.
·Simple interface and ease of use.
· Powerful automation via command line.
· Free and open source.

Practical Features:
·Suitable for users who need to speed up file transfer through instant messengers, P2P, clouds, file hosting.
· Suitable for webmasters to increase the speed of loading pages of sites.
· Suitable for web developers to reduce the size of the content.
Suitable for developers different platforms(Windows, Linux, MacOS...; mobile android, iOS) to reduce distribution sizes and speed up download times.
·Suitable for server administrators who can integrate FileOptimizer via the command line.
·Suitable for content creators and distributors to reduce content size.

Russification:
Copy File" 25.po"from folder" Russian v12.50.2231 (by wvxwxvw)" in root folder programs, for example:

C:\Program Files\FileOptimizer\
Comment: If the program was not Russified when launched through a desktop shortcut, you need to recreate the shortcut.

About portable version:
· Portable version from the developer, works without installation.
I have divided the versions into folders (for convenience):
FileOptimizer 12.50.2231 Portable (x64)
FileOptimizer 12.50.2231 Portable (x86)
Added Russian language file (from wvxwxvw). It will automatically pick up depending on the system language.