WinRAR Tutorial

How to get WinRAR

WinRAR is an archive manager. It can combine and compress files and folders into smaller "package" files. These files have the .rar extension and are very similar to .zip files. In fact WinRAR is very similar to winzip (if anyone still uses that) just more powerful.

You can download WinRAR from the official web-page: http://www.win-rar.com/download.html

How to archive

The process of archiving is very simple

1. Select all the files or a folder you want to add to the archive, right click them and select "Add to archive.."



2. Then you just choose the name and the location of the new WinRAR file by clicking browse (1). By default the WinRAR file/files will appear in the same folder as the files you are putting in it. If you want to have several WinRAR files (in example breaking a larger file into 5MB pieces for E-mail briefcases) you can then choose the filesize of each part where it says "Split to Volumes" (2). The number shown is in bytes, so 5,000,000 would be 5MB.



If you do not choose a filesize (the default selection), the file/files will be archived into a single WinRAR file and there will be no size limitation.

3. Click "OK." A window that looks like this will appear to show you the progress of the archiving process. You do not need to click anything, just wait for it to finish.



4. When completed, you will be returned to the original window with your original file and the new rar file/files. Congrats, you're done.

How to combine/extract

Make sure you have downloaded all the necessary parts (i.e. all the individual RAR files). Remember, you can't expect to extract the file if you are short of one or two parts.

Also, make sure that the parts are of the correct size.

How would you know whether a part is complete (i.e. of the correct filesize)? WinRAR splits up the parts into equal sizes, while the last part would usually be of a smaller file size.

Why? Think of having to pay for something costing $22. You might use two $10 bills and the remaining $2 in small change right, for example. With effect, you're splitting up your payment into THREE parts -- two $10 parts, one remaining $2 part. It works the same way in WinRAR; the remaining data becomes the last part.

Check that all the parts (except the last part) are all of the same size. That would be a very good chance your parts will extract properly.

2. So, you've downloaded ALL the parts, and made sure they (except the last part) are of the correct size. Make sure you place ALL the parts into the same folder, as in the following screen-shot:



3. Now, right-click on any part:



Can't see the WinRAR options? Scroll down to find out what to do in the FAQ section.

4. If you've done it correctly so far, you'll be greeted with this little window which shows the extraction progress:



5. Once the extraction is successfully completed, you'll find the clip in the folder. Make sure you can play it, although if you were able to extract it without error then it should work fine, before proceeding to delete the RAR parts (you won't need them anymore)

Hope this has been informative enough. Please post comments/feedback regarding any ambiguity you encounter.

FAQ

Q: My trial period is up? What should I do?
A: You can register the program (buy it) but that of course means you have to pay money. If you don't want to do that, which I am sure not many people want to do, you actually can continue to use the program. The only set back is that there is now a pop-up window everytime you open up the program asking you to register. Simply close the window and use WinRAR as you normally would.

Q: I don't see the WinRAR options when I right click on the parts. What should I do?
A: Double-click on the first part and press [Ctrl]+[s] in order to access the "Settings" menu, otherwise go to [Options] > [Settings]. Click on the [Integration] and under "Shell integration", make sure the first option is clicked (as circled in red):



Once you're done, click [OK] and then close the WinRAR window and close it. You should see the options now when you right click.

Tips

Incorrect Password - Some WinRAR archives may be password protected, check the thread where you downloaded from to find the correct password

Missing a part - Go download what you are mising

File is corrupted - In the process of downloading, your files got corrupted (a rare event and not your fault) Simply download again.

This tutorial is taken from: http://sakurahana.com/forum/download-support/3651-tutorial-winrar-explained.html You can find further information their! (i.e. how to password-protect a RAR-file ...)