Compressed files are very useful for sharing all kinds of data over the Internet. Thanks to them we can send or download many files and folders within a single package, which also takes up less space thanks to the algorithms used by compression programs. There are many different types of compressed files: ZIP, TAR, 7Z… but, without a doubt, one of the most used and well-known is RAR.
Originally, the default compressed file format was ZIP. WinZip was one of the first programs to compress and decompress files in Windows, a very simple and fast tool that, if we’ve ever used floppy disks, we’ve surely used it. However, it was soon relegated to second place, because WinRAR, and its RAR format, soon won over users.
How to open a RAR file
The RAR format offered much higher compression rates than WinZIP, so when data began to be shared over the Internet, 90% used this format. In addition, its redundancy features, and the recovery parts, helped a lot to make most of the users bet on this format.
There are many programs to open RAR files. Virtually any file compressor will be able to open this format. It does not matter if we have the original WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip, PeaZip, or any other program to compress and decompress files installed on the computer. Nowadays, everyone will be able to extract RAR files on PC without any problems. Even most of them will be able to open and extract the new RAR5, the new compressed file format that offers better data protection and compression ratio.
However, what if I want to compress a file in RAR? Here the problems begin.
How to compress in RAR
The algorithms that RAR uses to compress files are the property of its creator, Alexander Roshal. Therefore, they cannot be used freely like those of 7Zip or those of Zip. That is why very few applications, if not almost none, have permission to create files using these algorithms.
The programs that allow us to compress RAR are mainly WinRAR, the star compressor for Windows, as well as RAR, for MS-DOS and Linux, or RAR for Android, for smartphones. Nothing more.
Of course, with RAR5, the same case is given. To open the compressed files using this improved algorithm, it is necessary to have one of the latest versions of WinRAR, since they are the ones that will be compatible with it. If we have a version prior to 5.0 installed, then we will not be able to work with this improved file format.
Therefore, if we want to compress a file to this format, we will only be able to do it with this program. We also remember that WinRAR is a paid program, although it offers us a 40-day trial version (although in reality it never ends) that will allow us to use it without problems.
