Softworld editor's review -
The most advanced compression utility
PowerArchiver is a archive utility that supports various compression formats and allows you to open and create compressed archives. After you install and start the application you will be prompted to choose from two interfaces: one that is dedicated to the novice users and one to the power or advanced users.
By selecting the simple interface you are provided the basic functions of this application. You have a New button, which can be used to create various types of archives, Open, Favorites, Add etc. Beside those there are also present the basic functions of an archiver such as Extract and Delete.
By going into Options you can change the look of this program by selecting from the available skins. By entering Configuration you can operate various changes to your Extract or Add locations, File Formats, Compression Profiles, Password Manager, Plugins etc.
When selecting the Power users interface definitely that the things are totally changed. At the top of the window you have available plenty of options. By selecting Find archives you can choose to search manually for a specific archive or you can make the application to search automatically for them on the entire PC or a specific drive.
If you want to encrypt your files you can very easily do that by going into the Encrypt files menu. Here you are provided all kind of encryption options, various types of compression etc. A feature that i really like is the Multi Extract function. Basically you can select several archives and choose to extract them simultaneously. After you have selected the files that you want to be extracted then the next thing to do is to select the location where you want this process to be performed.
Other functions that you have available are Repair ZIP, SFX Wizard, Batch archive and others. Another thing that I like about this application is that after you have created for instance an ISO file you will be able to burn it on a CD or DVD without using a dedicated application. To accomplish this all that you have to do is to enter in Burner, which is located at the top of the main window, and then press "Burn Image".
Other functions that are available in the Burner section are Erase Disc, Burn Files to Disc, New Disc Image, Virtual Drive etc. To be able to use the last option you have to get the paid version. PowerArchiver also includes a FTP, Backup and Tools section. The FTP field is definitely very useful when you want to upload various archived files via FTP.
When going into the options menu you can select from various interfaces, skins, how to view the folders in the Windows explorer browser etc. The Power users interface definitely that provides an enormous amount of options. Believe me, there are so many that even an experienced user will have difficulties in understanding what it does each one of them.
You can easily spend more than a few hours navigating through all the options. If at some point the Power interface will seem much to complicated you can very easily make the switch to the novice one by going into Options and then Interface. In this section you will have to select classic toolbar.
If you want to make the switch the other way around you will have to go to View, Toolbar Options and select modern toolbar. Without a doubt that archivers such WinZip or Winrar are nowhere near PowerArchiver when it comes to the sheer amount of features. Beside that the interface of the program looks very good and despite all of the available options it doesn't take a lot of space on your hard drive.
Good:
-good looking interface
-tons of options available in the Power users interface
-includes a CD/DVD burner
-FTP and Backup sections
-multi extract feature
-simple to use with the Novice interface activated
Bad:
-none
Version 12.01 reviewed on: 28 Oct 2011
Publisher's description
PowerArchiver offers hundreds of features, yet remains easy to use, small and fast.
PowerArchiver has been downloaded by tens of millions of users worldwide. Novice users will find a familiar interface complete with tutorial and detailed help, while more experienced users can take advantage of full Explorer integration, multiple encryption methods and advanced compression algorithms.
The application includes top notch features:
-Preview Window
With PowerArchiver 2011, you can now easily preview archives, images, text and many other file types directly in PowerArchiver without having to open archive or file. The Preview feature works both while browsing hard drives and inside archives, with full support for WLX plug-ins.
-Brand new ZIP Engine
Multicore deflate zip engine, almost 4x faster than single core systems on quad core computers.
Improved speed of zip compression and extraction on any occassion.
Full support for advanced ZIPX format - LZMA, JPEG, PPMd, BZIP2 and WAVPACK in ZIP/ZIPX, according to latest ZIP standards. PowerArchiver is the only application that fully supports Winzip 14 and earlier files, while providing faster (up to 4x) and stronger compression compared to WinZip 14.
Full support for more basic ZIP format that is compatible with all archivers out there, as well as the built-in Windows XP/Vista/7 zip reader.
Multicore LZMA engine for ZIP.
Support for Unicode in ZIP, both read and write. Implemented throughout application.
ZIP AES support (both PkZip 5.1 and WZ 9.0 standards supported)
Multiple disk spanning, with support for unlimited span sizes
-7-Zip Compression
-Superior RAR extraction
-Multiple Formats Support Including ISO
-New Queue System (Add/Extract/Backup) and PowerArchiver Starter
-Automated Backups
-Useful Tools
Convert Tool - convert files among formats supported in PowerArchiver. It can convert thousands of files and folders at the same time.
Encode Tool - encode/decode files in UU, XX, MIME and yENC formats.
Repair Tool - repair broken ZIP archives with one simple operation.
Write/Merge Multivolume Tools - split ZIP files into multivolumes, and also merge multivolumes into a single ZIP archive.
Batch ZIP Tool - batch compress thousands of files into separate archives.
Multi-Extract Tool - extract thousands of archives at the same time.
SFX Tool - Create SFX files from ZIP, 7-Zip, CAB and PAE archives via the \"Make SFX\" feature or with the easy-to-use SFX Wizard.
Changes on the new version:*Improved TAR handling - Improved behavior when working with large TAR archives.| *Improved rename box - Consistent size between different dialogues, F2 now activates rename file inside archive dialogue.| *Improved Windows 8 support - Small improvements for Windows 8 Consumer Preview support.| *Modern interface and backup option - Modern interface will now allow backup for Professional users.| *Better Unicode compatibility with PAOP - Added improved Unicode compatibility for interaction with PAOP for new PAOP release 2.20.05.
