Many users might be familiar with the ZIP archive format. ZIP is a very widely supported open archive standard. RAR is an alternative proprietary archive format for file compression to ZIP that’s not so widely utilized. The RAR archive format is the default one for the WinRAR software developed by the same person who invented RAR, Eugene Roshel, during the 1990s.
RAR is a better lossless compression method than ZIP. It has a higher compression ratio rate than the ZIP archive format. That means a RAR archive for the same collection of files will be smaller than a ZIP alternative. If you want your archives to be smaller, it’s better to compress your files with RAR archives.
However, ZIP is a more widely accessible file format. Windows includes a built-in ZIP compression and extraction utility. You’ll need to compress and extract RAR archives with third-party software, such as WinRAR, PeaZip, The Unarchiver, and 7-Zip. You can compress RAR files to small sizes with WinRAR as outlined in the guidelines below.
If you face trouble when opening a RAR archive, it might be the result of the ZIP file being corrupted or damaged. RAR Repair tool is able to fix damaged archives, restoring access to its contents.
How to Highly Compress RAR Files to Small Size with WinRAR
WinRAR is the original file compression utility for RAR files. Aside from RAR files, it also supports ZIP, LZH, ARJ, TAR, GZIP, ISO, and 7-ZIP formats. So, you can also utilize WinRAR for compressing and extracting other archive formats.
The WinRAR software is retailing at 29.95 euros. You can try out a full evaluation copy of that software for 40 days. This is how you can highly compress RARs to the smallest sizes with WinRAR.
Step 1: Open the WinRAR website.
Step 2: Click the “Download WinRAR” button on that utility’s website to save the installer for it. Install WinRAR with the downloaded setup file for it.
Step 3: Open WinRAR’s window.
Step 4: Next, enter the path (location) for a folder containing a group of files you need to compress within WinRAR’s path bar.
Step 5: Press and hold the Ctrl key to select the files to include within the RAR.
Step 6: Press the “Add” button to open the window shown directly below.
Step 7: Click the “RAR” radio button if it’s not selected. However, that option is usually selected by default.
Step 8: Select the “Best” option on the “Compression method” drop-down menu.
Step 9: Click the “Dictionary size” drop-down menu to select the highest “1024” option there.
Step 10: Select the “Create solid archive” checkbox.
Step 11: Then click “OK” to set up the RAR archive.
By selecting the “RAR4” archive format option, you can further enhance file compression with additional parameter settings. Click the Advanced tab and the “Compression” button to open the window in the screenshot directly below. There select the “Auto” text compression setting, and enter 63 in the Prediction order box and 128 in the MB value box.
How to Compress RAR Files in Specific Size with WinRAR
Step 1: You can also split RAR archives into multiple volumes. Open the WinRAR window.
Step 2: Open a folder within WinRAR that includes files you need to compress into an archive.
Step 3: Select the file, or files, to compress.
Step 4: Click “Add” to open the Archive name and parameters window.
Step 5: Select “RAR” if you need to.
Step 6: Click the “Spit to volumes, size” drop-down menu shown directly below.
Step 7: Then enter a size value to split the archive by. For example, you would need to enter 100 MB to split a one GB file into 10 archived parts.
Step 8: Alternatively, you can select the “Autodetect” option to determine the size value to split the archive by.
Step 9: Press the “OK” button.
Thereafter, open the folder that includes your split archive. You’ll find that your RAR archive is divided into multiple parts. The file names for the split archive will include part 1, 2, 3, etc., at the end of each one.
How to Bypass RAR File without Password
As previously mentioned, you can add passwords to RAR archives. However, what if you forget a RAR file’s password? You can recover RAR archive passwords with PassFab for RAR. That PassFab software includes three password attack recovery methods for users to select from. Users who have completely forgotten their RAR archives’ passwords can recover them with PassFab for RAR’s “Brute-Force Attack” option.
PassFab for RAR is compatible with Windows platforms from XP to 10. You can also utilize it on Windows Server platforms dating back to 2008. PassFab is currently available for a discounted $15.95 (usually $31.9). Click the “Free Trial” button on PassFab for RAR’s webpage to try out a demo version.
Free Download PassFab for RAR Now
Conclusion
The RAR archive format is a great alternative to ZIP files for users who need to compress RAR files to smaller sizes. Although software utility options for RAR files are more limited, WinRAR is perfectly sufficient software for both compressing and extracting RAR archives. By configuring WinRAR’s compression settings as outlined above, you’ll get high compression results that greatly reduce file sizes.
