• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

[question] zip vs .rar

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

bluesmap

Registered
Joined
Dec 15, 2006
does it really matter?
personally, i use win.rar for everything.
for purposes of having the best compression, protection does it really matter either way? arent they just both the same way of compressing files?







now.
since im posting on this topic.....
is there a way to compress a file with win.rar and then add a password to protect the file at a later time? like if i forget to compress it with a password is there a way to add one after it compresses? couldnt figure that one out. didnt want to delete and compress again just to add password.....
 
bluesmap said:
does it really matter?
personally, i use win.rar for everything.
for purposes of having the best compression, protection does it really matter either way? arent they just both the same way of compressing files?

As far as I am aware they use different algorithms. So different compression techniques will yield different results. Often certain types of data just cant be compressed very much (MP3s are already compressed, for example).

I find on linux that bzip2 is usually the best for compression, but is slower than gzip.
 
I prefer zip myself. Have used both and not seen much difference in compression. Since I have been using zip since the modem days, I just stick with it.
 
in terms of compressed file size, i believe rar will create a smaller file than zip the majority of the time.

david: i believe that p7zip is actually faster and makes smaller files than bzip2, but don't quote me. But yes, bzip2 is definitely better than gzip in terms of file size, but much slower.
 
I use winrar, havent used winzip for years i had a slight disliking to it in the olden days.
 
the only advantage to zip is that windows xp now has zip and unzip functionality built in.
 
i use rar nowadays because alot of stuff i extract is rared . I dont usually compress files tho jus extract em :)
 
I've used winrar for years, but do occasionaly create zips if I'm sending it to a non-computer literate person. On linux I usually use gzip since I've never had the patience to wait for bzip2, but I'll be sure to test p7zip.
 
RAR is a proprietary algorithm and is not natively supported by windows or other OSes. For most things, I don't believe I've seen much of a difference between zip and rar, but for the things I have seen a difference, I believe rar offered the best compression.

Since I use 7zip, all the things I compress are zips. Occasionally I'll use the .7z but I often avoid it because it's not too popular and zip is supported natively by windows.
 
Back