Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

Fafner76 reviewed v19.00.32 Preview on Mar 2, 2019

Pros: Many options and customizations

Cons: Painfully slow to start

Bottom Line: While they managed to make it quicker with the 2018 version, this one is an elephant. Takes more than 2 seconds to open, everything is laggy, I know it's a preview, but so far it's a desaster!

cyberguy reviewed v17.00.83 RC2 on Jul 8, 2017

Pros: Good performance
Good archive extraction support

Cons: Licensing system sux. Why not a lifetime license for that price?
So-so archive creation support. Does not compress RAR. I can get the same level of support from a freebie like 7-Zip
Does not contain the level of features expected from a shareware archiver.

Bottom Line: Decent performance, but not a particularly good value for the price since there are free archivers that give you as much.

darkwzrd1 reviewed v16.00.61 Final on Feb 5, 2016

I pretty much gave up on PowerArchiver because of performance issues but with the release of 2016 that's completely changed This versions features have greatly improved over 2015. Also the Touch Screen Support is NICE and it supports ever format imaginable.

kstev99 reviewed v16.00.56 RC3 on Jan 22, 2016

I tried this, and while it is pretty good, things that I don't like are that in order to create RAR files, you must have WINRAR installed. If that is the case, why not just Use Winrar and 7zip?

Price seems a little steep... I mean ONE year of updates for $22 (Basic Version) when you can get lifetime updates of WINRAR for $21. I Own WINRAR and while I considered switching to this, I just don't see the point

Raimondas reviewed v15.00.28 Private Beta on Nov 1, 2014

Good archiver. Never had any problems. Support is also fine.
I guess PowerArchiver is the best archiver money can buy.

DKDude reviewed v15.00.28 Private Beta on Nov 1, 2014

Still the best and AWESOME support, both by email and forum.

Worth every single penny.

DrTeeth reviewed v14.06.02 on Oct 11, 2014

The best there is, PLUS excellent support via the forum.

guru_v reviewed v14.05.01 Beta on Apr 8, 2014

Up until version 9.2, this was a worthwhile addition to a toolkit. Since then, which coincides with the author's decision to make money the sole motivator [it had previously been utility to the average user] for the project, it is at best a poorly crafted, bloated helper for the seriously weak-minded.

Not useless, but not really necessary either.

DKDude reviewed v14.02.03 on Jan 8, 2014

Hands down, the best there is.

TC17 reviewed v14.00.17 Beta on Jul 6, 2013

The software really needs to change their policy about requiring a new serial number for every major update. Its just a hassle to people who have paid for it.

cetko reviewed v14.00.16 Beta 1 on Jul 5, 2013

THE BEST!

Raimondas reviewed v13.03.01 on Feb 25, 2013

Very good archiving program. I changed to PowerArchiver from WinZip Pro because WinZip charges user 10eur per year if you want to use latest version.
PowerArchiver provides lifetime upgrades but do not has 64 bit version.
Anyway, good work, keep it up!

Andem reviewed v13.01.04 Final on Sep 18, 2012

Superb file archiver. Fast and supports tons of different formats.

beatmakershq reviewed v13.01.04 Final on Sep 12, 2012

Amazing Program no doubt!

DKDude reviewed v13.00.15 Beta 1 on May 23, 2012

Still a very supreme program, couldn't think of a better, even if I wanted to :-)

All I need in compressing and handling of compressed files, FTP, backup, burner and then some.

I really love this program.

And a BIG thank you to Mili Sefic for great support, keep up the good work guys.

P.L.

smaragdus reviewed v12.12.03 on Mar 27, 2012

Obnoxious ribbon interface.

Input Overload reviewed v12.10 on Jan 11, 2012

Seems a viable but maybe overly complex (for me) alternative to WinRar.

Still under evaluation so given it full rating so as to not mess um system up.

DKDude reviewed v12.01.02 on Sep 23, 2011

Great archiver, supports many formats and has lots of useful features.

Their support is outstanding, they actually answer within hours and really care about their customers.

Keep up the good work.

Agron reviewed v12.00.59 on Aug 10, 2011

My Avira AntiVirus software detected a virus as soon as I pressed Download now button...

Fafner76 reviewed v12.00 RC5 on Jul 8, 2011

Using it since several years, no particular problem.
New S/N can be retrieved from their homepage...I have a lifetime license and all I had to do was log in into my account and get the new license...

minklein reviewed v12.00 RC3 on Apr 8, 2011

This is posted as 2010 RC3. It is not, it is 2011 RC3. What that means is that if you have 2010 your SN will not work with 2011. Buy me again time. As far as PA goes, I find it a great program, no problems for me been using it for years.

DudeBoyz reviewed v12.00 RC3 on Apr 8, 2011

I guess it is good to be ambitious in terms of feature set, but honestly, I find just about any other archiver lacking when I put it up against WinRAR.

If you are going to PAY for any single archiver, it should be WinRAR.

No other archiver is, at least to me, worth getting.

If PowerArchiver was free, it would be a good alternative to 7zip itself. But it is not, so I just can't recommend it over the competition.

DKDude reviewed v12.00 RC2 on Mar 29, 2011

Just bought PowerArchiver 2011, and it's all I needed, I used many of the free programs for years, but I got a good offer on PowerArchive I couldn't resist.

To me this is a musthave tool, with a great support.

P.L.

Input Overload reviewed v12.00 RC2 on Mar 20, 2011

You can certainly spend your money more wisely or not spend it at all. Free alternatives abound. Or get WinRar.

CyberHobo reviewed v12.00 RC2 on Mar 19, 2011

It has become too bloated! I'm waiting for it to become a file share program in the end.

DrTeeth reviewed v11.70 on Dec 14, 2010

The best there is and support is top-hole too. Would give 6* if possible.

JethroB reviewed v11.63.12 on Jul 9, 2010

"free" version is semi-crippled

tickleonthetum reviewed v11.63.12 on Jul 7, 2010

Not truelly free. Has a large nagware banner. Also includes TrialPay...

ckot reviewed v11.63.11 on Jul 2, 2010

Haven't had it for long, but, so far, it looks great. Does basic archiving very well, and has a lot more features and a better interface than anything free app that I've tried.

UProf reviewed v11.62.03 on May 2, 2010

Distressing. Loads of promise. But they keep churning out new versions before they have worked the kinks of the the existing one. So I am also stumbling across some new glitch.

I want software to work, and to work reliably.

If you do too, this software is not for you.

'Tis a shame. With care this could easily take the archive market by storm. However, I have tried PA on and off for more than a year. I have finally given up.

Sigh

pjb reviewed v11.62.03 on Apr 27, 2010

In my opinion PowerArchiver is a good application.
I have been using it for many years and never run into any issues.
I would give 5 starts for the application, however I believe support should be rated with the product, as some people may need it further down the line.
I have found the support forum very wanting..

You try and help people posting on their forum, trouble is the mods on the site seem very lacking in authorising posts - a very long delay, which when someone is in need of help they are not going to appreciate.

Also if you check their Twitter and Facebook page, they have not updated those for a long time.

emanresU deriseD reviewed v11.61.06 on Nov 19, 2009

Well when the change logs mention that bugs have been fixed, it's rather pointless to argue that the software doesn't have bugs. But I know, the point is that not everyone encounters all bugs, right? Okey dokey, so I'm just picky about the software I use working properly, and I know how to tell when it doesn't...

4122 reviewed v11.61.06 on Nov 19, 2009

No "bugs upon bugs upon bugs" here. I use this day in and day out at home & work with no bugs encountered at all. This latest version has made this program an even bigger joy to use.

Good job, ConeXware team!

EDIT:
emanresU deriseD, I didn't mean to discount your opinion. Of course when the changelog mentions bugs being fixed they must have existed & of course if you say you encountered bugs then of course you did. An archiving program isn't rocket science so you can't be using it 'wrong'.

I haven't had any problems on my setup & of course all PCs are different so experiences vary from person to person. I hope the devs eventually fix the problems you are experiencing as when PowerArchiver works it works very well.

Bottom line: Sorry if you thought I was discounting your experiences. It wasn't my intent. I was merely relating mine.

emanresU deriseD reviewed v11.60 Preview (RC5) on Oct 2, 2009

My god (of which there is none, it's rhetorical of course) the bugs upon bugs upon bugs. I've had to go back to WinRAR because it is quicker and has a more solid, quality feel to it. I love PA's features but come on... I should not have to report a bug or two per week.

4122 reviewed v11.60 Preview (RC4) on Sep 22, 2009

Beautiful, modern interface that is unmatched by any other archive utility at any price & unlike a previous reviewer's experience I use it all day every day & I haven't run into any bugs, but that may just be my usage patterns. 99% of what I do is unarchive & test archives.

I'm a proud owner of the professional version that I bought at a discounted price & I feel like I stole the software.

luluz, if you still want the classic toolbar you can go into the options and turn off the modern interface if you wish & the interface from days of old will be back.

luluz reviewed v11.60 Preview (RC3) on Sep 20, 2009

Very nice compression utility, handy, intuitive and well endowed of useful features.
I like its look&feed, even if (as long time PowerArchiver user) I'm a bit nostalgic of the old non Ribbon-like toolbar.
It's just because I cannot make myself like Ribbon toolbars, but I must admit the new toolbar is efficient and rational as the old one.

emanresU deriseD reviewed v11.60 Preview (RC2) on Sep 7, 2009

Did I actually give this a 5? Wow. Must've been drunk and happy that day.

I really tried to make a go of it with PowerArchiver. But as with so many times in the past, its innumerable bugs have driven me away. It's nonstop. Minor bugs, annoying bugs, serious bugs. Constantly. It's neverending.

I love the feature set but I just can't take it anymore.

DrTeeth reviewed v11.50.66 on Jul 21, 2009

The best there is, period. 6*

emanresU deriseD reviewed v11.50.61 on Jul 10, 2009

A quick test shows it opens archives much slower than WinRAR under at least some circumstances. This is disappointing and annoying, but no other archiver (that I know of, certainly) competes with PA in terms of features and active development.

ShahinD reviewed v11.50.61 on Jul 10, 2009

The Best archiving Software with too many features.great program

Joco reviewed v11.50 Beta 2 on Mar 27, 2009

I use 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org) under Windows and never felt the need for an alternative. However if this same PowerArchiver was available in the Linux world then I think the success would be huge.

Fafner76 reviewed v11.50 Beta 1 on Mar 15, 2009

Does everything I need and much more. Ppl rating it bad because of the name? LOL

thartist reviewed v11.50 Beta 1 on Mar 13, 2009

i hate it when they go so ridiculously far ahead in time with the years. it's so stupid and childish. i know u want to be cool and sound ahead, but cmon. 2009 has just started. there is nothing of 2010 at this time of the year, not even for a beta that will come later. idiots.

aside from that, good program overall but it just never felt specially solid in any certain area. i feel it's more worried about looks than whatever else... i like winrar more.

pjb reviewed v11.50 Beta 1 on Mar 10, 2009

@ Banquo: I have been using this new version for a few weeks now, and I have not come across that back up folder issues as was in previous version :-)
This new version is also a bit faster for me.. Nice.

Banquo reviewed v11.03.04 on Dec 1, 2008

Very annoying backup feature creates empty folders in your My Documents folder, even if you don't use the backup feature. No way to turn it off. I hate it when programs clutter up my documents folder like that.

ninjeratu reviewed v11.03.04 on Dec 1, 2008

Just be a bit cautious about this build if you've bought it.
Some registration keys won't work and you have to reinstall an earlier build.

Reverb reviewed v11.01 on Oct 18, 2008

Still the most flexible multi-archive product available for Windows, regardless of cost. I primarily use WinRAR - not because I am a WinRAR fanboi but because 90% of what you download from the world wild web is in RAR format. If Powerarchiver had built-in RAR compression I would ditch WinRAR but RARLabs isn't going to let that happen. I use PA primarily for ZIP/7Z/CAB which means I rarely use it anymore. The FTP feature is very nice even though I've only used it 3 times. I do see 7Zip increasing in popularity which may de-thrown RAR eventually but we'll have to wait and see.

I paid for PA years ago when it was the only utility of it's kind and everything I downloaded was ZIP/ACE/ARJ/LHA/LZH/RAR. PowerArchiver may soon become obsolete since as many of you have mentioned before, there are plenty of multi archive free alternatives that accomplish the same task and ACE/ARJ/LHA/LZH/ARC are dead formats. MIME, UUE and yENC support was good back in the days but is now redundant because all popular newsreaders/mail clients have built in support for these formats.

dhry reviewed v11.00 on Oct 4, 2008

Seems like a pretty decent program with a lot of options. Two problems for me. One, it costs money. No archiver should cost a dime. You can get free ones out there that achieve the same basic purpose - IZarc, TUGzip, JZip - and in this regard I completely agree with DudeBoyz's (who I assume is an individual rather than a group despite the pluralization of the nickname) review. Two, the original 7-zip interface produces .7z files that are smaller than the 7z system included in this program - and that's even with the so-called "optimized" 7-zip mode. Really nice try, but a version that is free for home users would have made me give this a 5. Until then, doesn't do anything I need that 7-zip classic (FREE) cannot.

slinkys_delsol reviewed v11.00 on Sep 26, 2008

I have been using PA since it was Version 9 and even @ Version 11, still the best overall!

I like the New Features 11 added, especially the ability to burn to CD / DVD and also the "Multiple Extraction" options!

Also being a Previous Customer, upgrade only cost me $6.95... YES, SIX DOLLARS AND NINTY-FIVE CENTS!

If the Software is functional to what you need and you use it regularly, then it is well worth paying for!

Undesired Username reviewed v11.00 on Sep 25, 2008

Some aspects of the interface still don't look right on 120 DPI systems; opening archives (especially those with many files) is slower than with WinRAR; can't automatically open a new archive that has been created with the shell extension.

I'm sick of the people who keep saying that all archivers should be free, just because there are some crappy freeware archivers that perform basic functions. Is it not obvious that some archivers--like PowerArchiver--go beyond "basic functions"? Is it impossible to comprehend that some people are willing to pay for a product that actually has features beyond "add" and "extract", has documentation, has real support, and has a vendor committed to further development?

As a couple random examples, look at PA's preview function... I think it's really nice feature. Not an absolute requirement for an archiver, but very handy. And how about support for MSI and CHM files (via plugins)?

MarcFou reviewed v11.00 on Sep 25, 2008

PA is by far my archive application of choice. It provides the essential features you need while adding useful functionality.

The FTP profiles and Backup features are excellent.

The developers are pretty good about fixing reported bugs and responding to user feedback.

5 Stars all the way. I have to disagree with the review by DudeBoyz.

DudeBoyz reviewed v11.00 on Sep 25, 2008

Not much seems to have changed. It still functions well, as did RC1.

That said, I want to reiterate my earlier point about 7z, and I understand and respect that others may not agree with my thoughts on this, but I do feel that my philosophy on this subject is still valid and relevant.

I simply do not agree with the idea of charging money for a feature that is built upon Open Source technology. If you want to create a backup feature and charge for it, then do so by creating your own format instead of capitalizing on the efforts of the free / open source community.

Such an act seems anathema to the spirit of free and open source software.

That said, when I think about it, I feel perhaps it would be best if the extraction of all formats was provided for free, whether it is payware or freeware. It is more of a wish/preference I think. It may not be a practical or even logical point. But I do not like proprietary formats in general.

If a user was allowed to simply decompress / decrypt the data and then use other tools of their choice to recompress / encrypt, I think that would be a good thing.

For example, I would not want open source linux distributions like OpenSUSE, Mandriva, Ubuntu, etc. to only be made available in a a disk image format that requires you to pay money if you want to access it.

So releasing it as an ISO that can be freely processed would be preferable vs releasing it as a .DAA or .UIF which may require you to purchase an application in order to work with the free / open source files inside of that image.

I think the concern I have is based on the potential for exclusivity in relation to free / open source applications. I'm perhaps not articulating the point very well today...

Regardless, on the other side of things, I think if you have created a proprietary archiving / encrypting format and you wish to charge people for the ability to create archives in that format for distribution of retail software, then that would seem reasonable to me.

But just don't do that when you have open source / free content in the mix.

Ironically, I also feel that if there was not such an excellent open source and free application available (7-Zip), I would rate this higher for being a good value when compared to others in the same area of the software market.

4122 reviewed v11.0 RC1 on Sep 13, 2008

I just wanted to address a few things that have popped up in previous reviews about this fine application.

Interface/GUI: People who are complaining about the ribbon interface are complaining about a non-issue since one can use the classic interface which resembles PKZip and WinRAR. While I personally dislike ribbon interfaces I think it's commendable the authors are trying to update the standard archiver interface that's become antiquated. Face it, the PKZip/WinRAR interface has remained largely unchanged since those two programs' inceptions.

7z backup features: The only thing the Pro version is charging extra for are the fancy backup features. If you check the chart comparing Standard vs. Pro 7z archive creation and extraction are supported in the Standard version.

Visibility of PA2009 on the home page: I see PA 2009 mentioned right in the middle of the home page on the web site as well as in the sidebar along the left hand side. Seems visible enough for me.

Bloat: PA2009 Pro loads up quicker and reacts quicker to commands than PA2007 or any previous version did which does not make it bloated in my eyes. Feature creep, however, seems to be what PA2009 (Pro) seems to be guilty of, though.

Price: Definitely a matter of taste and what is too pricy for some may be a bargain to others. I will put forth, though, that if one is interested in PA2009 Standard now is the time to jump on the 15% discount. For those with an eye towards PA2009 Pro I would put forth the radical idea of buying PA2007 now at the normal price and then immediately taking advantage of the offer to upgrade from PA2007 to PA2009 Pro at the discounted price of 80% off. You'll get PA2009 Pro cheaper than buying it straight out even with the offered 15% discount.

I have used PA for a long time and PA2009 has optimizations that have cemented it as my go-to archiver and I bought PA2009 Pro even though I do own a legal license for WinRAR which I won as a prize on some web site I frequent.

DudeBoyz reviewed v11.0 RC1 on Sep 12, 2008

Their web site emphasizes version 2007 heavily, and finding out about 2009 and the split into Standard and Pro is not as obvious as I wish it was. However, I did find something here:

http://www.powerarchiver.com/preorder2009/

I wish that the BetaNews "Other Editions Available" section for this program included links to the Standard and Pro version and that the License information was updated to reflect that as well.

For $19.95, the value of this app seems reasonable. But the $34.95 price for the Pro version seems high.

One note on the Pro vs Std version - 7zip is a free platform, so why are they only including 7zip backup features in the PRO version? Since 7zip is free, should it not follow that the use of 7zip within PowerArchiver should not be a for-cost item?

While this app does have its pluses, the list of minuses is growing longer.

Charging money for 7zip related features just doesn't seem right in the first place, but making features based upon 7zip a higher "for cost" item is just not following the spirit of what 7zip is all about, imo.

If they put all the features into a single version and did not divide between Standard and Pro, I think the $19.95 price level would justify a higher score.

Man, it's just a bummer to see this sort of thing happening to what used to be a pretty good value.

anonymouscowturd reviewed v11.0 Beta 5 on Sep 11, 2008

Pretty capable. But only the classic interface seems usable. The other interface options look like interface hell. Still, it seems to work ok and has plenty of support for different formats. Though WinRAR still wins hands down in my opinion.

Skyfrog reviewed v11.0 Beta 4 on Aug 15, 2008

"No FULL unicode support (can't handle multi-lingual characters in one file name)."

I'm sure all three people that affects are really annoyed about that. I'm sure it will be fixed eventually.

"Interface is too large and sluggish."

Too large is a matter of opinion, too sluggish is a matter of your computer being junk. Anyway did you know you can easily switch to the classic theme? It even asks which you prefer at install and it's completely customizable. Who uses the GUI anyway, all I ever use are the explorer context menus.

jcunews reviewed v11.0 Beta 4 on Aug 15, 2008

No FULL unicode support (can't handle multi-lingual characters in one file name). Interface is too large and sluggish. And worst, it's been like this since version 8.

Banquo reviewed v11.0 Beta 4 on Aug 15, 2008

"I think this used to be free."

Yes it was. Actually the program was called EasyZip up until version 5.0 when the name was changed to Powerarchiver. It was still freeware at that time though and was apparently owned by that scumbag company eFront (remember when they ran Betanews? Those were dark days. :P ) The last free version was 6.11

Anyway, the current version is well worth the price in my opinion and lifetime updates are included.

pjb reviewed v11.0 Beta 4 on Aug 14, 2008

Nice updates. This update works without any problems for me.

thomas.tmc reviewed v11.0 Beta 3 on Aug 7, 2008

preinterpost is correct. Decent app, but 7zip has an interface akin to WinRar and up to 2/3 better compression than 2.71, plus its open source and free.

preinterpost reviewed v11.0 Beta 3 on Aug 7, 2008

I think this used to be free. It's a good program so fair enough there is cost associated. Unfortunately for the author there is 7zip, which is free and takes care of most if not all compression needs.

Tarun. reviewed v11.0 Beta 3 on Aug 6, 2008

If there was a freeware version of the Standard version, I'd use it and switch from IZArc.

DudeBoyz reviewed v11.0 Beta 3 on Aug 6, 2008

Seems more stable than the last beta, though it does seem just a bit slower. I really do not like the "ribbon" interface, but given the extensive support for a variety of formats and a price that is still lower than most of the retail competition, I feel that it deserves a higher score than I had previously assigned to it. The product really is improving, and the price has not risen, so it is a pretty good value.

minklein reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

I have used PA since 2002 and have never gone back. Every update has been free, no charge for all these years and it remains so. It is a deal as a lot of work goes into development.

I do not see any bloatware, it is fast and works great as usual. I personally like the new interface but that is my choice. All the context menus interdace perfectly with Vista 64 and Speed Commander 64.

As far as 2009 Pro goes you do not have to use it, that is your choice, go with the Standard version. I find the added features in Pro make it quick and convenient to deal with saving or burning files to disk, and yes I still have a million other ways to burn a CD. Like I said your choice, for 6.99 USD it was worth it to me and it gave a little more support to the developer.

Support: If you ever need their support it is great. They respond immediately and are open to suggestions. Well worth the original $19.95.

DudeBoyz reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

EDIT: Wow - Speed Commander is like $65 or a bit more in US Dollars. Holy Moley! Free Commander 2008 may be worth a look.

Back to the 2009 version of PowerArchiver - are the Standard and Pro versions a new thing for the 2009 product, by the way? I don't remember there being a Pro version before.

That said, I think I'll download PowerArchiver again and test it again to check out how well it integrates to the context menus with Free Commander 2008. I used to use PowerDesk Pro 5 as my primary file management app, and it worked fine with that. I just have not tested it yet on the latest Free Commander, which just came out in June I think. Thanks for the heads-up.

I used to really dig this app, but the newer GUI is still just ruining this thing, and it seems to me like 7Zip is getting better and better all the time, and it is free.

Not only that, WinRAR is such a strong offering and only costs $10 more, that I am having a hard time in recommending this program to anybody anymore.

Between the Pay product - WinRAR, and the Free product - 7Zip, I honestly think that most users won't benefit by looking beyond those two programs.

Sorry man, but as a former fan and user, compared to those others, I just don't think PowerArchiver is worth spending the extra money on anymore. It does sadden me, but it's just the way it has turned out for me.

I don't hate the product - I just don't like it as much as I used to. :(

RastaWorld reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

$20 bucks? No thanks, 7-zip and many others available.

preinterpost reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

Used to be a user. Switched to free 7-zip, which meets all my needs (which are many). When working on many different systems it is just impractical to use programs requiring licensing for commodity that should be in the OS to start with.

Metshrine reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

I used to be a user of this (I registered both editions in case I ever decide to move to PA again. So conexware, don't delete this since I know you run betanews), but this program has lagged behind where others have succeeded. PowerArchiver hasn't had a really exceptional feature added in a while and this new pro version makes me sick. I have since moved to winrar, yes I own licenses for both programs now, since conexware decided to treat customers like this. All the pro edition is going to do is provide them (conexware) a way to add features that they know people want (after adding all this crap they know people have no need for) only to make them pay for more money to get it. Features that should be standard will now be deemed a "pro" feature. Thanks, but no thanks. For now conexware (ala betanews), you've lost a customer.

Also, check out below, you will see a user "Nate" who is a known betanews admin/editor/writer reviewing this software. Is it a coincidence that nate is reviewing software from a company he works for? Notice that PowerArchiver is a BetaNews Pick. Coincidence?

ninjeratu reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

Undesired Username : You don't understand a thing, do you? Bloat is bad, mmkay? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bloat

And the whole point was that I'm not sure Standard upgrades will keep on being free since they forked the project into two. Give me one good example of a software product that forked into multi-purpose not-quite-so-good software that haven't died. People don't need or want that. It's a pure marketing ploy.

Since you're going to pay for the "features" of the Pro version there's no reason not to pay for speciality software. The excellent FlashFXP is one of (if not the best) FTP software out there and cheaper than the Pro upgrade. Daemon Tools Lite is free and a much, much better mounter.

"Not everyone wants 300 different software titles" was one of the dumbest comments ever. Yes, doubleclicking on another icon is such hard work. Dumbest. Comment. Ever. But you're welcome to pay for Pro, since you're obviously the target group...

Having three separate programs, specialized for the tasks, with small footprint and useful features is always better than one bloated hybrid program that tries to be everything and fails at all. Every hour spent on fixing bugs in the FTP client is an hour less spent on the core product you paid for and wanted.

I'm sure you would like to be spoonfed bad software instead of making intelligent choices because obviously that's hard work. Go buy Nero while you're at it. But the fact is still that there are no valid arguments for PA to have the Pro features like backup, a DVD mounter and an FTP client. All three are, in PA, too simple, too redundant and too intrusive for people who actually use such things regulary.

Let the archiver be an archiver and do that to the best of your ability, and let the pros do the virtual DVDs and FTP software.

Undesired Username reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

What is that reviewer below whining about? The Standard version is a free upgrade. If you don't like or don't want the Pro features, just... Ummm... Oh, I dunno... DON'T UPGRADE TO PRO! Now there's a wacky and wild idea!

Not everyone wants to use 300 different software titles. Lots of people want the Pro features; I can tell by the many people I've seen say as much here and in the PA forums.

-1 on the rating for having tiny/screwy fonts in lots of places, and still sub-par 120 DPI support.

------------

In response to ninjeratu above:

"Give me one good example of a software product that forked into multi-purpose not-quite-so-good software that haven't died."

Windows.

As for FlashFXP being cheaper than the PA Pro upgrade, well the former is $25, the latter less than $7. Maybe my calculator is broken or sumpin'.

You're screaming about nothing. PA isn't trying to be everything. The "FTP client", for example, is not intended to be a full-blown client.

As for the rest, well I'm sure the ConeXware people know better than you what works and what will sell. After all, they don't just post snarling widdle attack reviews in between Oreos and blood-pressure medication; they actually do software. And they run this site. Oh, you probably didn't know that, huh?

anonymouscowturd reviewed v11.0 Beta 2 on Jul 24, 2008

GIMP trumps this for idiotic interface but i think this comes a close second. Is it just me or is it a really an insanely complicated interface for something as simple as an archiver/compressor?
I wish other archivers could support RAR creation like TUGzip could. I'll stick with WinRAR and 7zip.

ninjeratu reviewed v11.0 Beta 1 on Jul 19, 2008

Best archiver in existance, imho. Fast, reliable, versatile, small footprint. So far. But ..

I'm a bit worried and annoyed at the Pro/Standard crap. The Pro version is complete rubbish and whoever thought it up just wanted to milk money from existing customers that already paid for life-time upgrades by adding unrelated and pathetic "features". Whoever thought an archiver would need a virtual DVD mounter and an FTP client!? If you need that you can get that for free elsewhere instead of bloating PA! *facepalm*

Adding useless "features" just to have something to add to the changelog is a certain way of digging their own grave. Will we like PA when it's completely bloated with features and useless things we have free alternatives for? I doubt that. They should stick to what they know best, archiving.

So far the Standard version is a free upgrade, but will it stay that way?

I don't like where this product is heading.

jspratjr reviewed v11.0 Beta 1 on Jul 18, 2008

Love it.

pjb reviewed v11.0 Beta 1 on Jul 18, 2008

Great software. Just paid for my upgrade to the pro version which includes now a lifetime of free upgrades. More info at: http://www.powerarchiver...d.php?p=14987#post14987

Install went fine, and the application works well.

Banquo reviewed v11.0 Beta 1 on Jul 18, 2008

Been using for years, not slow at all so pay no attention to the ignorant WinRAR troll below. The new interface isn't really my thing but it gives you a choice to use the classic interface so no issue there. As for RAR, the 7z format beats the pants off that proprietary crap.

Letterman reviewed v10.22 on May 18, 2008

Gave it a try and now it replaced my WinRAR. Awesome stuff. Great support for 7z.

gate1975mlm reviewed v10.21 on Dec 1, 2007

PowerArchiveris the best! Its fast and very stable!

former user of Alzip :)

RichPA reviewed v10.21 RC2 on Nov 20, 2007

Wish they'd fix the registration bug in the U3 Version. Wasted $$$ purchasing a 2nd license for my U3 Drive.

jspratjr reviewed v10.21 RC2 on Nov 19, 2007

Never a problem and an excellent program.

This release works fine.

pjb reviewed v10.21 RC1 on Nov 2, 2007

Works really well. Certainly does load a fraction faster with the Modern interface. A nice application to use.

jspratjr reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 4, 2007

Excellent as always, no problems with this release.

DipThong reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 3, 2007

I just tested this same SDK archive with WRAR and guess what, it freezes far harder than PA does. PA at least continues to display its progress bar and update it, winrar freezes and gets the "Not responding" tag in Vista. PA continues to operate.

ninjeratu reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 2, 2007

@ V.A: The Ribbon interface can be turned off. It's something racidal and cool called "a skin". You might've heard of it...
"Folder"? Zip's quite a lot more than a "folder". It's an archive that can be compressed, segmented and quite a lot more. To think it's 'nothing more tha a "folder"' is ignorant and just makes you look stupid. Please troll somewhere else.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_%28file_format%29

That said PA is getting better all the time. If you use archives on a daily basis it's one of the must-haves in my book.

pjb reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 2, 2007

Great application that is continually updated, and works really well. Interface available for advanced users and those that only just know the basics.

V.A reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 2, 2007

A zip or other archive file is in fact nothing more tha a "folder" and should be treated a such.

Power-Archiver tries to lift the whole archiving thing to a super-idiotic high level : I mean, look at that interface (almost more complicated than Office 2007 hahaha)

Get back with both feet on earth guys, get back to normal !

Metshrine reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 2, 2007

Best archiver in the industry. I havent found one that is any better than this or provides the capabilities that this application does. I rate this highly. I just wish rarlabs would open up their format and let users and developers utilize it without a royalty.

tinderkill reviewed v10.20.21 on Oct 2, 2007

Great

Metshrine reviewed v10.2 on Sep 24, 2007

Best application of its kind. Winrar has only one advantage over this, and that is that rar files can be created in it. This is a function which only rarlabs products can utilize since they charge royalties for other companies wishing to utilize the format for creation purposes. PowerArchiver, however, beats it hands down in speed, ease of use, and functionality.

DrTeeth reviewed v10.2 Beta 3 on Aug 7, 2007

I love PowerArchiver and it would be churlish to give it less than 5 for my only gripe.

Which is...I wish the default buttons would be made into 'hot spots' for my mouse cursor so it would automatically jump to them. Most programs do this and I really appreciate the saving in the distance my mouse travels.

Metshrine reviewed v10.2 Beta 2 on Jul 13, 2007

Would be nice if we could include these changes in the AUTO-UPDATE feature of the program. For the past, say, 10 updates? I've seen the same 6 changes (7zip, interface changes, etc). None of these ACTUAL changes are ever included in the changelog given to the auto-update program.

Great program otherwise. I love it. If only rarlabs would open up the rar format so all could use it, but since they dont, we cant create rar files without winrar or paying royalties.

Alex Stevens reviewed v10.2 Beta 2 on Jul 13, 2007

Changes:

* Modern Interface reworked to look better and more like the Office 2007 ribbon interface. New customization options such as minimizing the ribbon, customizing contents and location of QAT, support for Vista aero transparency and better font selection in window caption, better min/max/close buttons, and optimized overall look and feel of modern interface.

* Introduction of new “Tiny Toolbar” interface option, which uses 16x16 icons for Classic, and hides ribbon for Modern interface, while using QAT as “toolbar” for minimal interface.

Bug Fixes:

* Double-click to extract - taskbar shows 0%.
* Can’t update .doc file inside PAE.
* Incorrect date when extracting from tar.gz
* Progress bar doesn’t show for unknown file type.
* Adding file and folder via drag and drop.
* Testing results letters cut off.

m0user reviewed v10.2 Beta 2 on Jul 13, 2007

I love this program but WHAT ARE THE CHANGES?!?!? I see updates all the time but the changelog never changes, nor here or on the official site or via the auto-update system in the program.

Latz ! reviewed v10.2 Beta 2 on Jul 13, 2007

To complain about the ribbon interface and give it a low rating because of that is sheer ignorance. It asks you very clearly upon installation which style you want to use, the ribbon or classic.

RSMurphy reviewed v10.2 Beta 1 on Jul 12, 2007

Excellent program and handles everything I need.

Rather petty of certain people to criticize and rate a product down because of an aesthetic presentation that can be tailored by the individual.

It is truly unfortunate that a product is rated on appearance rather than the functionality, in this case, excellent and working properly functionality.

Sounds like the same mentality that states that [s]he want a final version to hurry and be released. Who cares what the version level is if it does the job?

zridling reviewed v10.2 Beta 1 on Jul 10, 2007

I'd like it more except for that god-awful Microsoft ribbon crap. (Yes, yes, I know you can change it to classic.)

Alex Stevens reviewed v10.2 Beta 1 on Jul 10, 2007

I purchased this program a year ago and have not regretted it. Handles all the formats just fine and I've had no problems with it at all.

Side Note: Please stick to reviewing the software that the article is about instead of trolling about other products.

maria_madonna reviewed v10.2 Beta 1 on Jul 10, 2007

use winrar
best archiver

ninjeratu reviewed v10.2 Beta 1 on Jul 9, 2007

Not slower than anything else, quite the opposite. Please review the current version since the engines are constantly updated. Blame the engine, not PA, for that.
RAM usage depends on what engine you're unpacking with / size of archive. Nothing new here either.

Version 10.20.01 Improvements:

* Added first configuration screen for interface selection
* Added PA Starter option in Configuration
* Changed Configuration interface to tabbed interface for
better look and feel for older systems
* Updated 7-zip engine to latest version
* Updated Unrar engine to latest version
* Updated Direct Skin engine to latest version
* Other minor improvements

tuneslover reviewed v10.11 on Jun 11, 2007

Good Archiving Software. Cheaper & supports
many formats. But it has a few GUI problems in few computers & version 2007 usages more RAM & slow too (in Winsows XP SP2, Intel P-D Cpu, 512 MB Ram, Sata HDD).

Alex Stevens reviewed v10.11 on Jun 11, 2007

Excellent program, supports creating more formats than WinRAR including the superior 7zip format. If you don't like the theme change it to classic, not even an issue. If you can't figure out how to change the theme you don't need to be using a computer. Who even uses the GUI anyway? Ever heard of context menus? Those saying there's nothing new in version 10 except a new theme are the same ignorant keyboard monkeys that think Vista is just XP with a new theme. This is hands down the best archiving program available, followed by the free Tugzip. RAR is a proprietary dinosaur soon to go the way of arc and zoo files.

bigmama reviewed v10.10 on May 26, 2007

office 07 interface or winzip gui?
don't bother-only gui changes and useless things

use winrar - small & powerful

dougau reviewed v10.10 on May 24, 2007

I installed the French Language version and my computer went on strike!!

zapatero reviewed v10.1 Beta 2 on May 21, 2007

1. The "Default blue/silver" skin is just awful. The worst interface I have ever seen. 2. Does not open some EXE installers (presumably created with 7-Zip), like the OpenOffice installer.

ninjeratu reviewed v10.01 on Mar 14, 2007

@ Wintings: Uhm 9 isn't really Vista compatible. 10 is. You probably had a Vista problem or something else causing the problem.

Been betatesting Vista for a year and using a registered PA for more than that. Version 9.xx PA never worked properly, but ever since version 10 came it's worked fine in Vista.

Nothing really major in the last releases, but speed continues to improve in the different formats (7-zip above all).

nate reviewed v10.0 on Feb 27, 2007

No problems with Vista here! Was using 9.64 and now version 10.0 (betas included) and have no problems. New Office 2007 interface works great and haven't encountered any problems with UAC or other Vista features.

zridling reviewed v10.0 on Feb 26, 2007

Same Vista instability here. My screen would freeze and flake out when zipping archives under this latest version, and soon after the program would stop responding. A fix should arrive soon, but I suspect it's another Microsoft Vista problem, not a PowerArchiver problem.

AMH209 reviewed v10.0 on Feb 26, 2007

I have PA 10 installed on my laptop, which has Vista on it and it works GREAT! Awesome program and it keeps getting better.

Wintings reviewed v10.0 on Feb 26, 2007

WARNING!!! Don't install this if you are running Vista. It instantly crashed my PC every time I tried to run it. Stick with v9 until they have debugged v10.

ninjeratu reviewed v10.0 RC1 on Feb 17, 2007

Release Candidate 1 changes:
* Better support for Windows Vista User Account Control
* Graphical updates to interface
* Many other smaller updates and fixes

minklein reviewed v10.0 RC1 on Feb 16, 2007

I have been using this program for years. It is simple, the context menus are excellent and the new version looks great. Try it and if you want the old interface load it. I like 7zip so PA does the job for me.

stranded reviewed v10.0 Beta 10 on Feb 10, 2007

This program got really bad since is no longer freeware (lots of useless stuff, freakin UI is sloooow). 7-Zip crashes it!

ninjeratu reviewed v10.0 Beta 10 on Feb 10, 2007

You can disable the Ribbon UI if you want to, but it looks a lot better in Vista. Which is the whole point.
People have mentioned that unpacking is lot faster in WinRAR, but PA have fixed that too and is almost on par with WinRAR now.
Getting better all the time!

Beta 10 changes:
* Improvements to Modern Interface
* Quick Access Toolbar now customizable
* New 7-Zip engine
* Graphics updates
* Many other smaller updates and fixes

Paul Skinner reviewed v10.0 Beta 10 on Feb 9, 2007

@joesmooth:
I think you'll find WinRAR covers all the formats you mentioned.

joesmooth reviewed v10.0 Beta 9 on Feb 7, 2007

Don't knock it until you have used it and have used it fully!

The fact that PowerArchiver have jumped on the Ribbon UI should not detract from what it does as it does what it says on the tin very well; see Pubs. Desc.

Since it can handle WinRAR, 7Zip, and other compression formats I don't need half a dozen zip apps (one for WinRAR, one ZIP, another for 7Zip, etc) to juggle about with.

And if you don't like the new skin/UI, you can always switch it back to classic look.

jspratjr reviewed v10.0 Beta 9 on Feb 7, 2007

The best on the market - love the interface and well worth the minimal cost.

DudeBoyz reviewed v10.0 Beta 9 on Feb 7, 2007

The new interface is just killing this product, at least for me.

WinRAR is the only one worth paying for these days, cause there are other free archivers that do just as well without the Microsoft influence.

I cannot recommend anyone purchase this software, even though it is being updated and has some good features. It just doesn't rise to the level of WinRAR, and 7z has it beat too.

If this was a free product, at least it would be feature competitive, were it not for that horrible new interface that takes up so much of the screen.

zridling reviewed v10.0 Beta 8 on Jan 30, 2007

Thanks for the corrections guys. My apologies. I forgot I had to do the same thing for version 9. Still hate the ribbon, but love that it can be changed and that PA supports 7z so well.

Skyfrog reviewed v10.0 Beta 8 on Jan 30, 2007

They update the registration system from time to time due to pirates creating key generators and cracks for it. People who have purchased it simply need to get a free updated code. Once you purchase the program all future versions are free for life.

Ian C. reviewed v10.0 Beta 7 on Jan 28, 2007

Yeah it does have free upgrades for life and an uninstaller, dunno what zridling is talking about. Still the best commercial archiving programming, accept possibly WinRAR. But I still prefer the freeware TUGZip application over all else.

P.S. The ribbon is hideous.

Change reviewed v10.0 Beta 7 on Jan 27, 2007

zridling, what are you talking about? From the website: "Personal licenses are lifetime with free upgrades to all future versions of PowerArchiver." Your old registration code does not work with this new version, but you can request a new registration code for free on their website...

Dreimanis reviewed v10.0 Beta 7 on Jan 26, 2007

looks nice and has alot of features.

guidorobben reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 18, 2007

The best archiver around. It always the best things first and then other archivers copy it. A good example will be the queue and Hybrid shell ext.

BTW who cares what the program looks like if you only use the shell ext. This is just a personal thing.

kronix2 reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 18, 2007

Microsoft put out press releases indicating it would allow others to copy its Ribbon interface if certain conditions were met, but the offer is irrelevant as you can't patent an interface or style. So MS are powerless to stop people from utilising tabbed menus, just as the rest of the browser market was powerless to stop MS from utilising tabbed browsing.

The new interface looks ok except for the ugly rectangular window border. There's also another problem: the ribbon isn't really necessary if you're running at 1600x1200 like I am. There's enough horizontal real estate to accommodate all the buttons in one long toolbar.

To the poster below, you can turn off the Modern interface. Options > Configuration > Skins

MarcFou reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 18, 2007

I'm not sure what the anti ribbon sediment is all about. PA did not rip it off from Office nor did they deviate from Windows development guidelines.

Read this article: http://www.betanews.com/...eel_for_Free/1164148463

Personally I dont feel the ribbon either enhances or degrades application performance and usage. For me its an 'all in one' archive program and it takes care of my needs quite well.

Banquo reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 17, 2007

I hope there is an option to switch to the old interface. I don't like how Microsoft bypasses their own Windows interface guidelines with Office, and I certainly don't want to see other programs doing it.

Edit: I've been informed the ribbon interface can be turned off, that's very good to hear.

DACWILSOL reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 17, 2007

Perfect. The $20.00 for the program is well worth it. New UI is only keeping up with the times.

ajua reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 17, 2007

i must say that the interface change is a nice addition. i love winrar, but the interface and commands are just too ackward. so i welcome a nicer interface on powerarchiver. promises much this new release.

Dreimanis reviewed v10.0 Beta 6 on Jan 17, 2007

the interface is office 2007 rip-off.

horsecharles reviewed v9.64.03 on Jan 3, 2007

No way one can give this a 2 while WinRar a 4/5...you'd then have to give Winzip a negative 5... take unpacking: there are some formats able to be opened with PA but not WinRar.

There is NO be all / end all app in this category...so actually, 5 is really too high for any... why i don't purchase more than one license(multiple machines) of the for pays: a combo of different freeware alternatives works fine in the other machines.

Also, price should not count in rating process.

Happy New Year to all those who follow that particular date/calendar.

Bachalor reviewed v9.64.03 on Jan 3, 2007

My favorite was and is WINRAR;
the winrar author create a specially price for you if you contact him personally (students, trainees and workless people).

zridling reviewed v9.64.03 on Jan 2, 2007

I too would like to see more people use 7z, and while RAR is proprietary (Squeez archiver also uses it to create files), the reason WinRAR dominates is because of reliability, which is what you need first and foremost in an archive format. ZIP doesn't have it, and I hope 7z gets there someday. Meanwhile, PowerArchiver is freaky-good.

stax reviewed v9.64 on Dec 30, 2006

It's cheaper than WinRar and appears to have much more features. It's also the only archiver I've found that does not append the name of a folder to the path when compressing a folder.

If I compress MyFolder with
Power Archiver the path is:

MyFolder.zip
___some content

all other create this:

MyFolder.zip
___MyFolder
______some content

Dunno why all other have this extremely annoying behavior.

RAR is proprietary and WinRar is the only application I know that can create RAR files so 7-Zip (which is fully supported by PowerArchiver) is the way to go, it's open source.

blackz0r reviewed v9.64 on Dec 13, 2006

Most assuredly a top-class application, but is there any meaningful reason to use this over WinRAR?

Banquo reviewed v9.64 on Dec 12, 2006

Still the very best.

ninjeratu reviewed v9.64 on Dec 12, 2006

Changes in PowerArchiver 2006 9.64 include:

* Added full support for Windows Vista
* Skin Engine now supports Windows Vista

kronix2 reviewed v9.64 on Dec 12, 2006

taior3, don't post rapidshare links here. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you aren't one of those idiots who post rapidshare links to freely available files in order to get rapidshare credits.

cowticket reviewed v9.64 Beta 1 on Nov 11, 2006

Powerarchiver has let me down in the past so mostly I choose winrar over it. But it is a good choice over all, and it does get the job done, it has a good interface and is feature filled. I still find it satisfactory for unziping files.

DudeBoyz reviewed v9.64 Beta 1 on Nov 10, 2006

Solid effort, and I appreciate the continued updates.

But between WinRAR on the commercial side and 7zip on the free side, I think the market is about wrapped up, and it's hard to stand out in a crowd.

Banquo reviewed v9.63 on Jul 25, 2006

Version 9.63 Changes:
* Updated 7-ZIP engine.
* Updated ZIP engine.
* Security issue fixed.
* Small fixes and improvements.

DACWILSOL reviewed v9.63 on Jul 25, 2006

Great compression program. I use the 7-zip profile in the program as my default archive type. This is one complete program. It is able to open virtually any compression and it has a great outlook plug-in.

SamppaX reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

Ok, I have tested this i must say that I switched back to WinRar after testing. Why? That's because packing and unpacking speed is much quicker in WinRar.

One thing I don't really understand in PA2006 is the UI. This Skin engine is Stardock's (Maker of WindowBlinds) And it takes more memory than windows based and if You own WB like me then there's no use for this skinning engine that PA2006 uses, because WB skins all Windows based graphics. They should but support/alternative way to skin their product, this way they could get much more users and it would be quicker.

This is my opinion & Testing review... ^ ^

Cure110 reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

Horsecharles:
Sacre Blue! Are you crazy? Chateau Laffite superior to Beaujolais? Let me say: HA! Thats like eating a brie croissant while drinking Château Croizet-Bages with a straw. Pyff!

darthbeads reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

@Floske Tuf
Please explain to me how PA is not integrated into the Win shell, and what it is about the GUI that clearly drives you so bananas.

horsecharles reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

Floske Tuf you gotta be kidding--ICEOWS can't handle a fraction of the types PA can...It's like saying Beaujolais Noveaux is superior to Chateau Laffite....Keep playing with your toys.

EarlyMorningHours reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

It seems faster compressing to 7-Zip because you don't have the same fine control over compression options with PowerArchiver as you do with 7-Zip. Generally speaking I always chose the highest possible compression rate in 7-Zip which PowerArchiver does not offer.

It's a decent program, easily beating WinZip for several years now. WinRAR and it's native format are far superior IMHO to the zip format and it has some advanced features that I really miss in PowerArchiver. There are a few little nagging issues for me, but they're really just personal preference type of things, not bugs or technical problems. While PowerArchiver may have a friendly face, I always install 7-Zip on people's computers since it's free and I don't have to worry about licensing issues.

Floske Tuf reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

@darthbeads
Is that the way you normally answer to people ?
If yes, then I prefer not to waste my time discussing with you.

@horsecharles

A wine that you can drink with whatever meal is definitely not a Chateau Laffite :-))

The Beaujolais Nouveau is the one that fits to every occasion : you're stuff apparently :-))

Sereously now :
I was talking about "GUI & shell integration" -did you miss that point ?.
I am NOT interested whether or not an archiver supports 125 or 126 types of archives (ZIP, CAB, RAR is most sufficient to me).

It's the GUI that makes the diffrence to me - do you know what a GUI is ?

Still with its proper GUI ?

Still without full integration into the WinXP shell ?

That's why I give it again a 1.

Look at ICEOWS - it is the only app that comes close to what an Archiver should be.

CyberDog reviewed v9.62 on May 2, 2006

Overall a really good program. My only complaint is it tends to lack some intuitive features found elsewhere. WinRAR, for example, seems to have everything right where it works best for me.

For example, up until the recent version there was no way to set the compression profile when using context menus. This seems logical, but was never previously available. In this version, there's still no logical way to set a comment in a zip archive until after it's created (that I can find).

There's lots of little gripes like these where it just feels like I have to do extra work to get the result I want. Lots of features are only really beneficial if they're accessible and intuitive in daily use.

zridling reviewed v9.61 on Apr 20, 2006

Same here. How come PowerArchiver can create and unzip a 7z file so much faster than 7-Zip? Kudos.

Don Juan reviewed v9.61 on Apr 19, 2006

Great program, purchased it several years ago. I found another great one called TugZip that is free that I primarily use. Now I use both, only use this one for creating 7z, because it has the fastest 7z compression available.

MarcFou reviewed v9.6 Final on Apr 7, 2006

PowerArchiver is hands down the best program. It opens numerous file formats and it has never crashed once.

Highly recommended.

zridling reviewed v9.6 Final on Apr 6, 2006

Is there anything except RAR creation that PowerArchiver won't do? On large files, its 7z creation speed is twice as fast 7-Zip.

Metshrine reviewed v9.6 Beta 1 on Feb 23, 2006

Two big annoyances with the skinning engine.

One, the primary window should be hidden until the main skin is applied. Currently, and in past versions, you see the main UNSKINNED window appear and then the skin applied. The window should not appear until the skin is applied

Second, The new skinning engine leaves behind a remnance of the skin (the top portion of the toolbar) when alt+tabbing and changing focus FROM powerarchiver to another application.

If conexware (fileforum owners) want a screenshot of said occurences, please feel free to contact me at the same email address used in my registration on this site.

horsecharles reviewed v9.6 Beta 1 on Feb 23, 2006

I love this app-- & speakin'a 7zip: i just ran into one MS Msi installer that 7 was able to decompress, but not PA(open w/o running it). Usually PA can handle most types, but not always-- why I keep also IZArc-- between those 3 I can cover all types...and that's the biggest reason why I do not recommend to anyone to BUY an app in this particular category.

Lastly, this app far surpasses Winzip, both in features and in non-interfering nag screen.

When would/will i issue a Buy recommend? When an app appears that can handle ALL major compression & installer types FROM the context menu PLUS adds the features of Nirsoft ZipInstaller. That's all i request-- for what i use it, which incidentally matches the mainstream-- i do not require a 'pretty' interface, nor being 3 kazillionths of a micronanosecond faster when handling a file, ditto for the equivalent fractional % proportion compression ratio. And NO, not requesting compatibility with all obscure compression types like .ghbc(Grandma's Home Baked Compression)-- but just for starters, everything past & future from Redmond, + as many third-party installers as possible. And this is not for nefarious purposes, often one needs to debug/troubleshoot, port over to a different OS, run an app w/o risking flummoxing the system........

zridling reviewed v9.6 Beta 1 on Feb 23, 2006

Faster 7z compression makes me smile.

MarcFou reviewed v9.51 on Nov 29, 2005

I was a long time user of WinZip. I tried PowerArchiver 9.50 Beta and I was hooked. I paid for PA and made a permanent switch.

PA offers the best support for different file formats. It replaces 3 programs for me handling: ZIP, ISO, BIN, IMG, RAR and 7Z.

It even offers a backup tool. You can create scripts for routine backup jobs and execute them any time through the PA interface or by using Windows Task Scheduler.

Joco reviewed v9.51 on Nov 29, 2005

Although I like PA, but the freewares are now good enough for me to use at home and work. My main compression format is now 7Zip. I use mainly TUGZip (www.tugzip.com) and when 7Zip (www.7-Zip.org) is finalized, I will probably switch to it.

httpd.confused reviewed v9.50 on Nov 7, 2005

I am sooooo surprised that PowerArchiver became the "Featured File"! (Yes, that's lighthearted sarcasm.)

I like WinRAR, but PowerArchiver 9.5 has better format support, better documentation, better configurability, better ease-of-use, a better general feature set, a better price, a better interface, and better product support than WinRAR.

And of course it can't compress to the RAR format. That's because the RAR format is proprietary. Can any archiver besides WinRAR compress to RAR, without running afoul of licensing restrictions? Of course not. So go right ahead and rate all other archivers down for this reason, too.

I like the technical aspects of the RAR format, but its proprietary nature makes me hate it--and avoid it--at the same time. Let's hope that the 7-Zip format eventually matures enough to truly replace it.

pjb reviewed v9.50 on Nov 5, 2005

Sceptical at first, but the product has won me over from Winzip.
A good all round product with the ability to open the many compressed formats.

PaneTrez reviewed v9.50 on Oct 27, 2005

Disc image support, WinXP x64 support and the stability of the program make it the best non-free archiving option and one of the best archiving tools period. Great features and speed!

Domingo reviewed v9.50 on Oct 24, 2005

It's all inclusive...that's what make PA the best. Yes, there are other programs that do the same things, but this program handles more or less every format you throw at it and does it flawlessly and with a nice GUI.

Banquo reviewed v9.50 on Oct 24, 2005

Still the best, and getting better. DudeBoyz, name one free program that supports everything this does and that works as well. I really don't believe there is such a thing.

DudeBoyz reviewed v9.50 on Oct 24, 2005

With so many excellent free products available, and the fact that WinRAR is still the multi-segmented archive king, I don't see the incentive to buy this app, especially given the stricter registration / confirmation process.

What it does, it does pretty well, but when others do it as well or better for free, why get this?

7zip, Quickzip, SimplyZip and others can fill the bill for most people, I would think. Maybe even Alzip or some other new app out there.

Nothing wrong with it, I just don't think it's all that and a bag of chips when you consider there are free options out there. :)

zridling reviewed v9.50 on Oct 24, 2005

DudeBoyz, Banquo is RIGHT man! 7z file creation speed is much improved, yea! WinRAR is still king, but PowerArchiver has finally ironed out the wrinkles in this 2006 version to make it worth having. And I never subscribe to the school of "Even crappy freeware is good enough for me, so it's good enough for everyone, so it must be better than the best simply because it's free!"

No.

For more info on all those other apps you named and why they fall short, go here.

Metshrine reviewed v9.5 Beta 7 on Sep 26, 2005

FINALLY! SHELL EXTENSIONS IN X64!!! Thank you Conexware/fileforum (same company) for finally incorporating this! This is the end all be all archiver. No, it doesnt support rar creation, but guess what, rar is a proprietary format and you have to pay royalties to be able to create rar files. I cant recommend this program enough.

rpavl reviewed v9.5 Beta 6 on Sep 23, 2005

Simply the Best in its class.

Metshrine reviewed v9.5 Beta 5 on Sep 12, 2005

Best archival utility around. Cant be beat for any of its features. For those of you complaining about it being shareware, get over it, not everything can be freeware. Money is what spurs innovation, not generosity.

Also, to the reviewer above, winrar is the ONLY utility able to CREATE rar archives without utilizing the external rar.exe file. RAR is a closed format for encoding and winrar charges royalties to companies who wish to use it to create rar files

httpd.confused reviewed v9.5 Beta 4 on Aug 31, 2005

And WinRAR costs $10 more than PowerArchiver to register. So, I guess when an application goes from being freeware to shareware (as PowerArchiver did long ago), or when its price goes up, all prior ratings are invalidated. Yes, the point I'm making yet again is that rating on price is utterly senseless.

guidorobben reviewed v9.5 Beta 4 on Aug 31, 2005

It is getting better and better every time.

@sn0wflake
Winrar isn't freeware either...

zridling reviewed v9.5 Beta 4 on Aug 31, 2005

Love the full feature set; hate the slow archiving speed, notably with 7z, but that's more likely due to the LZMA algorithm than with PowerArchiver. One of PowerArchiver's best features is its Backup utility. PowerArchiver was reviewed this week along with other archivers here.

sn0wflake reviewed v9.5 Beta 4 on Aug 30, 2005

A 5 star rating would be appropriate if it was freeware. Until then I'll stick to WinRAR.

httpd.confused reviewed v9.5 Beta 3 on Aug 23, 2005

If I hadn't looked at the list of changes, I might have had a hard time noticing the (significant) changes in this release. But while the interface isn't greatly changed, the whole thing seems to work better. As one example, the opening of archives with a large number of files inside seems to be much faster than before.

And the new format support (particularly ISO and NRG) is fantastic. Unfortunately, those new formats are read-only, but that's why we have UltraISO.

As usual, the support is very good...

I'm sure I'll find more issues (Edit: I've found several...), but so far PowerArchiver is looking better. I'd really like to get my system down to only one archiver for once. Maybe someday...

guidorobben reviewed v9.5 Beta 3 on Aug 19, 2005

Just installed b3 and I don't have the big icons as default. I just have the normal size (i think 32x32).

For the rest. This is the best archiver. The archiver is updated regularly. And not just with bugfixes. On every version the add something interesting.

finalcut reviewed v9.5 Beta 3 on Aug 18, 2005

2 words: The Best

Metshrine reviewed v9.5 Beta 3 on Aug 18, 2005

Agreed, the interface is a bit too much. Those huge icons are horrid. I love the program itself, but if this program is to make itself more appealing to power users (which are the majority of their users one would assume) they will have to cut back on the cutsy large icons or even create a minimalist skin that is enabled by default.

By the way, what happened to httpd.confused's review? Are the FF folks removing bad reviews from users (or reviews that have nothing to do with it) from this product and it alone? I never see this behavior on other products where it is sorely needed. As I said in past reviews, I dont really care, this is still a great product and site, but I feel fairness SHOULD come into play on this site, and that a bias shouldnt be applied for fairness and equality amongst all programs and articles. Or at least let AUTHORS remove reviews that arent relevant to their own product ;-)

UPDATED 21AUG05 - A big bug, that I have pointed out in previous versions, when extracting an archive stored on my C drive, to a folder on my D Drive, the program doesnt extract DIRECTLY to the destination folder, but rather to the windows temp folder, and then copies the files to the destination, thus slowing down extraction immensly. This is HIGHLY inefficient and has caused me to drop my rating to a 2. This type of extraction shouldnt be the default behavior (if included at all).

More found on this bug, it appears after dragging the files from PA to the dest folder, they are extracted using the above behavior, but not only does it use the temp folder, it moves it to recycle bin after the extraction is complete requiring a manual emptying. Very Very bad behavior for a program.

Banquo reviewed v9.5 Beta 3 on Aug 18, 2005

Apparently there is some unwritten law that says if you write a program today you have to use giant aqua style icons. The Powerarchiver authors have taken this to the point of absurdity with the 2006 version of this program. This is a utility, people use it to extract and compress archives. What's next, a BIOS flash utility that uses aqua skins? Personally I'd like an option to just turn the silly icons off altogether; I don't need pictures to figure out how to use a feature. Aside from the appearance issues it works rather well. I prefer it to WinRAR because it supports so many other formats.

Metshrine reviewed v9.5 Beta 2 on Aug 11, 2005

Great product, works wonderfully and the 7z support is superb. A great compression utility. Now if only they could license the rar format creation scheme from rarlabs, this would be set!

Now, for my one quewstion, why is it that negative reviews seem to be removed lately from this product yet they arent touched when a similar review is posted on another product? Could it be because of crosscut's pointing out that this product is made by the developers of betanews and they actually pay attention to reviews that shouldnt belong for this product?? Hmmmm? Not that I really care, Bad reviews should be removed, however I feel it should be done EQUALLY and not only for products which are made by this sites dev's.

There was another review on this product, a rating of a 3, which was recently removed, I know this because I still have the old page cached with that review.

horsecharles reviewed v9.5 Beta 2 on Aug 11, 2005

To rate this app lower than any of its competitors, solely because on an isolated format or two it's a couple of percentage points in compression ability behind-- is sheer madness-- big deal. No other app has as many features/can handle as many formats as this one-- not even close. No other app should be rated within one point of this one, much less equal or better.
If one had be limited to one app only, this one would be it-- otherwise, multiple apps are needed to handle all possible purposes/projects one may have.
Peace.

captainahab reviewed v9.5 Beta 2 on Aug 11, 2005

One of the best archivers out there. I'm a WinRAR man but I'm not going to put down the competition.

zridling reviewed v9.5 Beta 2 on Aug 11, 2005

7z creation and extraction is great. Now add RAR creation Conexware! Oh, to mcm, thanks for the tip on the new registration code. Well duh wodez, only by an insignificant ratio, and that doesn't explain why you're trashing PowerArchiver. The files we really want lossless-compressed are multimedia and image files still is not realistically available.

mcm reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 4, 2005

Note registration information has changed, so you will need to get a new registration number if you install this beta. Login with your email address and password into this site: https://www.conexware.com/shop and click on the upgrade icon next to PowerArchiver2006 to get your new registration number sent to you.

guidorobben reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 2, 2005

This piece of software is brilliant. It has all the things other archivers have but better.

zridling reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2005

Now that PowerArchiver has 7z support, it's the zip app to have, since 7-Zip's interface and keyboard shortcuts are just awful. And please stop comparing current zip compression ratios to WinRAR. Those comparisons are made against WinRAR 3.10, which was released several years ago, and frankly, RAR is more stable and reliable than ZIP has ever been. If you're stuck on ZIP, then you can't do better than PowerArchiver. Otherwise, I'm staying with WinRAR.

finalcut reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2005

simply the best archiver ever made
surpass winrar with 7z compression
and now with the iso/cue support

wow

ibod reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2005

When compressing 1000's of files, powerarchiver is slow enough to be unusable on anything but the lowest compression settings.
There's not much point in bragging about the sizes and numbers of files this program can deal with if it takes hours to run.

DudeBoyz reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2005

It's not free, and I'm more of a WinRAR guy, but this thing is feature packed and pretty darn solid. I'm not sure it offers a lot of value given the free / open source alternatives, but I do recognize it as a capable program. I guess I'd give it a 3.5 if that option was available, but I think a 4 is a bit too high.

Metshrine reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2005

Great program, Every feature I could want in an archiver. Only thing it needs is x64 support and optimized code. According to their forums it is coming, lets hope soon!

By the way, to crosscut, yep, it appears betanews and powerarchiver are associated with each other. ConeXware appears to have registered both and run both sites. Oh well, lets hope it doesnt affect their judgement on negative reviews of their product (or the removal of such)

To the user above, 7zip's compression scheme is good, but its interface is god awful. Powerarchiver has simplicity, ease of use, and supports 7zip. Again, you make the assumption that free always equals better. That is not always the case, although there are a few examples where freeware programs surpass their commercial counterparts

daze reviewed v9.5 Beta 1 on Aug 1, 2005

interesting find, crosscut. conexware lists Mr Nathan Mook as the president -- http://mybbb.org/codbrep...ID=155524028&cons=y
so, doing the math... the owner of betanews also owns powerarchiver.

but at least powerarchiver is a good program.
good job, nate.

crosscut reviewed v9.25 on Jul 22, 2005

Great program, best of its kind. Beats the hell out of winzip or winrar. I recommend it to every person I can and cant wait to see what else these boys come up with next.

By the way, does anyone find it odd that the same people (according to a whois) that registered betanews.com, also registered powerarchiver.com? The contact info leads to a company called ConeXware with both having the same mailing address. Perhaps this is why PA always appears on the fileforum homepage? Not a big deal, still a great product, but just an observation

zridling reviewed v9.25 on Jun 16, 2005

If you prefer ZIP over RAR, PowerArchiver sets the standard. Just wish it created RAR files! Otherwise, WinRAR is the best of both worlds.

darthbeads reviewed v9.25 on Jun 14, 2005

I desperately want to switch to something free like TugZIP or ZIPGenius, but I keep coming back to PA's speed and reliability.

I add my meager voice to the "drop the 2004 silliness" petition.

zridling reviewed v9.25 Beta on Jun 10, 2005

Good rant because it's so true. Year-dated apps are silly. WS_FTP is now pushing its "new" 2006 version. Wha? You ain't selling cars folks, just give us the official version release number.

Banquo reviewed v9.25 Beta on Jun 9, 2005

Great program, it replaced WinRAR as my program of choice. However isn't it about time to stop calling it PowerArchiver 2004? We're almost halfway through 2005 now. Better yet just drop the 2004 altogether. Putting years in product names is just stupid and soon makes the product sound outdated. If Microsoft had called XP "Windows 2002" imagine how old it would sound now. Rant over.

finalcut reviewed v9.25 Beta on Jun 9, 2005

yeah tugzip is free, I've been in the beta testing program but powerarchiver is hell lot faster to compress and decompress

jaelanicu reviewed v9.2 on Apr 8, 2005

It's should be more better than this or it'll sink soon. I use it anymore, but I'll be monitoring for its progress.

gate1975mlm reviewed v9.2 on Mar 8, 2005

I agree TUGZip kicks butt!

snoopy3216 reviewed v9.2 on Mar 7, 2005

great app, but TUG does this and more yet its FREE

nate reviewed v9.2 on Mar 7, 2005

Metshrine: On the Extract dialog box there is a checkbox for "Open folder after extracting." PowerArchiver remembers your setting, so it's likely you checked it once and forgot to turn it off.

Other than that, I concur. Great software!

Metshrine reviewed v9.2 on Mar 7, 2005

The DEFACTO standard in archival software. I love this software and use it every day. The only thing I dont like is the way it opens the folder you unzip an archive to by default (I cant figure out how to disable it).

Also, I am surprised httpd.confused hasnt reviewed this yet. I usually use all software he recommends since his reviews are the best I've ever seen :) Wish I could add him to one of my IM client lists, but I dont know his screennames :-/

And to the users who come here to spam tugzip, why? This is a review thread for POWERARCHIVER, now its ok to say "Tugzip is better" but at least give this program a proper review. Tugzip's interface is very lacking compared to powerarchiver's. PA supports all of the major formats, just because a program supports more formats doesnt mean that you will actually use those formats. My question to each of you who boast the support of more formats from tugzip, HOW OFTEN DO YOU REALLY USE THEM? Please, review the program at hand, dont make a single line post stating "XXXX is better"

sfo reviewed v9.2 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2005

It's great. However, I feel that TUGZip (www.tugzip.com), is equally as good (and supports more formats). But first and foremost, TUGZip if FREE and even includes a free selfextrator. So this is great, but since you have to pay for it, I'll stick to TUGZip

klumy reviewed v9.11 on Jan 6, 2005

New version is excellent !!

KriTenKs reviewed v9.11 on Dec 28, 2004

Great All in One program! Just Brilliant!

zridling reviewed v9.11 on Dec 28, 2004

This update doesn't hold its associations well. What was fixed is now temporarily broken. Gawdangit!

xhaker reviewed v9.11 on Dec 28, 2004

kernelsen just restart.
this is the best archiving app period.
the 7-zip support is something noone can miss.
it should archive in other formats tho.
a intermediate format is needed. something between zip and 7-zip.

kernelsn reviewed v9.11 on Dec 27, 2004

New bugs come with 9.11.......

After installed the PA 9.11, right click on the StartMenu items. DUPLICATE MENUS SHOW UP.!!!

zridling reviewed v9.1 on Nov 23, 2004

I love PA, but only for zip files. It's the ZIP part that I have problems with because the format is neither wholly reliable nor has it been consistently stable over time. That's why WinRAR continues to be favored BECAUSE it never corrupts a file. I just wish PA would add .RAR file creation to its feature set. Do that, and PA will reach the next level.

naelphin reviewed v9.1 on Nov 23, 2004

It has nice features like quick install, that installs shortcuts for you in the start menu. Which I really wish WinRAR had.

However it is much less responsive for me than WinRAR, so I still recommend it over this.

Domingo reviewed v9.02 on Oct 6, 2004

It's the only "all-in-one" archive program that finally looks as professional as WinZip. Yes, WinRar and WinAce work great, but their GUI looks like someone's weekend hobby. Winzip's Classic GUI looks and works great, but lacks support for RAR/ACE/etc.

This program handles most every format you can throw at it, it has a slick GUI, excellent shell integration, and it's nice to see it distinguish the formats with separate icons.

I used to keep several archiving programs on my machines, but now I just use PA for everything.

Banquo reviewed v9.02 on Sep 23, 2004

This is the program that made me switch from using WinRAR. They are both great programs, but this one feels much more polished and even supports creating 7zip archives. The biggest problem with WinRAR is that it is so freaking ugly. I got so sick of that stupid purple icon that was the same for ever single supported format. You had no way of knowing what the format of a file was with WinRAR unless you enabled showing extensions. With PowerArchiver you not only get a much nicer looking icon than WinRAR's generic purple block, but there is a seperate icon for every supported archive type. A zip file says zip on the icon, a 7zip icon says 7z on the icon, etc. As I mentioned the interface is much more refined and logical as well. As far as comparing this to WinZip, there is no comparison to that dinosaur of a program. This is the best I have tried and I'm definately going to be using it from now on. :)

Namero reviewed v9.02 on Sep 23, 2004

nice programm , but i prefer winrar !

after Winrar the 2. best Archiving Tool !

Pembo reviewed v9.01 on Aug 31, 2004

Been using Winzip since it was available for the Schwindows platform then discovered this. The user interface is great, plus the fact that it supports sooooo many archive formats. WinZip was great in it's day, but PowerArchiver now rules the roost, & ruling it with style.

CyberHobo reviewed v9.01 on Aug 18, 2004

I rank it in the top two packing utilities along with WinRAR. Improves with each update.

I'm still wondering how Winzip won the People's Choice Award?

plasticpig72 reviewed v9.0 on Jul 18, 2004

Since using this program about 7 months ago I have used nothing else. I have never had a problem with it, handles all the formats I have come across without a hitch.

Simple to use and well integrated.

cyberguy reviewed v9.0 on Jul 17, 2004

All those other archivers mentioned here are fine, but I need a tool that can *create* tar/gzip along with zips, lzh, 7z, and cabs. None of those listed here can do that.

That PowerArchiver creates tar/g/bzip, zip, 7z, bh, lzh, CAB is a real bonus for me. If i am paying for an archiver program this is the only one I feel is worth the asking price.

Powerarchiver gets top points from me.

klumy reviewed v9.0 on Jul 17, 2004

The new Powerarchiver 9.0 has been dramatically improved in speed and stability. Through the new 7ZIP Support it offers better compression ratios than RAR or ACE.

OCedHrt reviewed v9.0 on Jul 17, 2004

Hmm..generally seems to be a nice program. Combines quite a bit of features/support in one package. But, still no real unicode support :( What's the point of support unicode archives if it doesn't even supoprt unicode file paths :(

Inray reviewed v9.0 on Jul 17, 2004

Nice archive utility with excellent user interface and ergonomics. Unfortunately good things stop here. It's very slow on large archives, much slower than Winzip, Winrar or PKZip. Also is a bit unstable when used to handle big archives. All those issues could be acceptable IF PowerArchive version was 1-2, but 9 ?

Macross74 reviewed v9.0 on Jul 17, 2004

Great program, easy to use and works great with the batch file for backing up your docs etc.
Been using it since V6 and i have never used another program other than this.

zridling reviewed v9.0 on Jul 16, 2004

PowerArchiver 9.x takes what WinZip 9.0 did and goes a dozen better, with great flexibility and speed — two things I dearly crave in apps. Moreover, PowerArchiver is affordable. WinRAR is excellent, but PowerArchiver is far easier to use for both RAR and ZIP files.

Anfield reviewed v8.8 on Jun 6, 2004

great program, but takes more memory than Winrar.

weed reviewed v8.8 on Apr 10, 2004

I have used Powerarchiver since freeware version 6.11, in fact I paid for it a while back but still like to use 6.11. The newer versions work good too.

  reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 23, 2004

@christoofar: You are missing the point. The FTP feature in PowerArchiver is not intended to blow FTP Voyager out of the water; it is a way to quickly and easily send archives to FTP sites, without leaving the interface of the same utility you use to make and handle those archives. The password manager in PowerArchiver isn't intended to rock RoboForm's world; it is used to handle archive passwords--so it makes perfect sense to have the feature built in. But you can't read feature listings and get the full idea; you need to install the software. There are lots of little things here and there that put PowerArchiver ahead. One example is the warning you (optionally) get if you are about to close an archive that you opened directly from TIF; another is the greater interface configurability; another is the more-extensive shell extension; yet another is file-change detection; and so on and on.

CyberHobo reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 17, 2004

Never any problems with this archiver. I put it in the top three catagory of archivers.

shantanu reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 17, 2004

Blaeh !!! Heavy, bloated !!! seriously, do yourself a favour, don't use this. Use 7-zip+WinRAR OR IZArc (a bit big though)

bobad reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 17, 2004

Nice program. Used it from the beginning. Great features and shell extensions. Now there'a an archive manager named IZArc that is just as good, and is Freeware.

roj reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 17, 2004

When this program was at version 6, it was pretty good. It was freeware and had some annoying bugs (Explorer integration was broken) but was generally quite sound. Then the utility went shareware but there is one annoying trait that I have observed: reported bugs remained between versions. Not only that but the program continued to bloat the way many do when they try and add "features" to justify the cost (ACDSee was like that which is why I stopped *before* version 3). I personally now use IZArc. it's free, has the feature set that this beastie has and is fast and relatively bug free (at least I haven't uncovered any in daily use and I flog that thing). I cannot recommmend this program today for all of the above reasons, especially the one that says "If I'm paying the bills then you'd damned well better fix the bugs".

dillweed reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 17, 2004

It's a pretty good program, but slow and bloated. Winrar does the same tasks, but more efficently. And Izarc is freeware, beating them both in cost.

weed reviewed v8.8 Beta 1 on Mar 17, 2004

Been using this program since it was freeware and had no problems with it at all.

huh reviewed v8.7 on Jan 28, 2004

Than just review the prog and keep the "added comments about your self" for your self....Pfff...

huh

scodan reviewed v8.7 on Jan 27, 2004

On-topic only: I just tried this new version of PowerArchiver, and all the issues I reported earlier are still there. Archived EXE files don't have a generic icon shown, as they should; they have a totally inapplicable icon shown instead (the icon my system uses for ICO files). And still, when I open ASCII files in an archive, they open in Notepad totally blank. Apparently, PowerArchiver creates and deletes the temp file before Notepad can open it.

cyberguy reviewed v8.7 on Jan 27, 2004

Mayge huh should be banned for moronic, useless comments like that. This is supposed to be a review and everyone is entitled to their opinion their opinion. Dont like that? leave.

As for PowerArchiver 8.7, its good proggie but I still prefer WinRAR for everyday use.

Dirk van Hoofen reviewed v8.7 on Jan 27, 2004

Oh super this INFO. Now I can use it with a german GUI.

ShafuyZ reviewed v8.7 Beta 1 on Jan 16, 2004

WinRAR is still my one and only.

MyMaster reviewed v8.7 Beta 1 on Jan 15, 2004

I used to prefer PA over other achivers, but no more. These days i find Izarc a much better alternative, and it happens to be a free one at that. Now, if the Izarc developers would use native progressbars and Tahoma as default font...and perhaps nicer bitmaps...

fair_is_fair reviewed v8.6 on Jan 15, 2004

Power Archiver is a fine program but I too have to ask; "why pay for a zip tool when so many are offered for free?". Izarc, 7zip, zipgenous, Iceows, and bigspeedzipper come to mind.

ClubStew reviewed v8.6 on Dec 15, 2003

To scodan, while you may be a self-proclaimed good tester, you're definitely not a developer: to get file icons the code usually calls SHGetFileInfo which gets the associated icon. For executables (or other file extensions with shell icon handlers), the executable must be accessed in its uncompressed form to extract the executable's icon. When the executable is compressed, that can't be done. To decompress the executable would take additional time that just isn't worth it for something so trivial.

I think this program is pretty good, though I'd like to see better shell integration / shell-like UI.

scodan reviewed v8.6 on Oct 24, 2003

Two words for this program, from someone who is actually good at testing software: BUG-GY! PowerArchiver shows the wrong icons for many archived files on my system (it shows the ICO file icon for EXE files, as just one example); it also has a problem whereby certain files, when viewed, are extracted and then deleted before the external editor can actually open them (causing an empty file to be "viewed" instead); and it has some interface issues on systems that use a DPI setting other than 96. Beyond that, it lacks file change detection, and some other obvious niceties. My opinion on PowerArchiver is that it is very well featured, with excellent format support (including Deflate64), but still somewhat buggy. (I tried working with PowerArchiver support on these issues, but eventually got blown off.)

finalcut reviewed v8.6 on Aug 19, 2003

2 words for this program:

THE BEST

ssb reviewed v8.5 on Jul 2, 2003

A very nice looking compress utility with countless small features and options.
BUT slow, not always compatible with compression standards and very resource / memory hungry.
My advice is simple, get the real thing (WinRAR & Winzip).

mkus reviewed v8.5 on Jul 2, 2003

Hey does anybody remember PowerArchiver 6? You know, the last freeware version of the program. I do. It was a wonderful program. This is still a great program, but I prefer QuickZip (http://www.quickzip.org/) which can do almost all of the same things as PA. The layout is slightly different, but you can change it to a Clone mode which copies the same basic interface as the rest of them. Anyway, I give this program 3 stars.

rudz reviewed v8.1 on May 15, 2003

PA seems to hold a certain standard (like the 1000's of wanna-be-winzip-and-charge-money-for-nothing proggys), but could not handle all my archives (had some problems with self-made sfx-cab), so i keep using the free 7-zip. So why bother with PA? - as a previous dude pointed out the author(s) don't care.

chimpypimpy reviewed v8.1 on Feb 27, 2003

This is one excellent program. I'm torn between PowerArchiver and WinRAR, they both have many pluses.

JEdwardP reviewed v8.0.63 on Nov 22, 2002

I used it exclusively until it went shareware. It's a good program, but there are far too many high-quality FREE alternatives available to justify paying for it. Still, if you feel you MUST pay for an archiver, it's a better choice than WinZip.

Joco reviewed v8.0.63 on Oct 24, 2002

I forgot to mention the encryption ability. PowerArchiver now has very good encryption: Rijndael AES 128 bits, DES 64 bits, Triple DES 128 bits, Blowfish 128 bits. Much better than the ubiquitous scrambler in standard Zip.

WoGra reviewed v8.0.63 on Oct 24, 2002

I can´t understand what some guys are talking about. Sure, PA starts too slow. But in action it is the fastest of all. A 340 MB folder with many small files was packed with PA in 5:10 minutes. Win Rar needed 9:10 minutes. That´s what it is.

ssb reviewed v8.0.63 on Oct 24, 2002

Nice user interface, many archive format support and zip, rar full compatibility.
Unfortunately it's algorithms are too slow if you compare it with WinZIP and / or WinRAR. Same archive created in two seconds using WinZIP needs fifteen or more (!) seconds to compress with PA.

klumy reviewed v8.0 Final on Aug 8, 2002

The PowerArchiver author did a great job with the new version. The program is much faster and more stable than 7.0.

bobad reviewed v8.0 Final on Aug 7, 2002

Very good program, and very versatile. I particularly like the shell extensions and the wide variety of supported archives. What I don't like is the sluggishness that has plagued it for a long time. That plus the increasingly bloated size has caused me to abandon it in favor of WinRAR. (bobad@charter.net)

l_p_4_7 reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 3 on Jul 12, 2002

A brilliant alternative to WinRAR and although it is quite slow, it supports loads of different archive types.

captainahab reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 2 on May 30, 2002

The problem I mentioned is already fixed. Good work!

captainahab reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 1 on May 28, 2002

I like PowerArchiver but I cannot get the "Extract to Separate Folders" dialog to appear in the right-click context. I tried a number of times but it won't stay.

This version looks great. I especially like the new Powerarc skin... in UltimateZip! :)

modlodpod reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 1 on May 28, 2002

PowerArchiver is the most feature rich, easy to use and good looking archiver i have ever see. PowerArchiver blows ANY other archiver out of the water with this new version.

This is definitely worth the money, it's also cheaper than Winzip and a crapload better.

jay_jr reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 1 on May 28, 2002

The program is great on features. I don't deny it, but have any of you guys down there tried ZipGenius or UltimateZip? Yes, they're free.

tvaccari reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 1 on May 27, 2002

Program rocks.

moonknightus reviewed v8.0 Release Candidate 1 on May 27, 2002

This is the absolute best archiving program I have ever used. This one used to be a mere WinZip clone, but has so many more features. I only wish it was written in C instead of VB. VB is so slow and buggy... oh well.

dcarrico reviewed v7.02.08 on May 12, 2002

Awesome! WinRar is slightly FASTER, but does not have "Folder Viewing" support and I would like to be able to display just TEXT buttons instead of Icon,Text buttons. I can do all of this with PowerArchiver allready.

captainahab reviewed v7.02.08 on May 11, 2002

This is a good program but there are many free alternatives that are better than this, Winzip or WinRar.
-Ultimatezip
-Filzip
-Zipgenius

bobad reviewed v7.02.08 on Mar 23, 2002

Bought it, like it, has great features. However when WinRAR adopted (stole)PA's great features, I switched alleigance to the faster and more bug-free WinRAR. I still consier PA a great program, and a solid 2nd behind WiRAR. (bobad@charter.net)

benben reviewed v7.02.08 on Mar 6, 2002

Awwwwwww! How cute!!!! The favorties icon is a doggy!!!!!!

klumy reviewed v7.02.08 on Feb 17, 2002

Powerarchiver is an 100% alternative for Winzip.
It has all functions that Winzip also have and a lot of more gimmicks !!

gamecubefan reviewed v7.02.08 on Nov 11, 2001

Excellent. It may not be as speedy as Winzip, but it has much more features. Whoever doesn't like the interface, is well, crazy! Perhaps you want the beautiful Winrar interface. (The old type) Plus, those who want some cab sfx, and other features, (lots of encyption features), wait for PA8, which is in alpha right now.

methemas reviewed v7.02.08 on Oct 20, 2001

good compression program... new command line version is nice too, with support for pbs files and few other thingz... doesnt compress as well as rar BUT it has gazillion features and it is easy to use

vio_man reviewed v7.02 on Aug 2, 2001

The only bad thing on this program is that it doesn't not support SFX CAB's. I have many InstallShield programs that are in the SFX format, and PowerArchiver only supports the CAB format (not in SFX CAB format). I have warned the technical support but they are not concerned with that issue. WinZip supports SFX CAB's.

bobad reviewed v7.02 on Aug 2, 2001

Yea, I know. It's not as fast as WInZip, or as cool as WinRAR, but I have tried all other archivers many times and keep coming back to PA. Why? Because it has just the features I use most, and I like the constant development. I do wish they would convert PA to C or C++! Delphi 3 sucks!So yes, I'm buying it. Been using it nearly 2 years, so if I can't buy this program, I guess I can't buy any! (bobad@charter.net)

Deleted reviewed v7.02 on Aug 1, 2001

Nice program, supports a wide range. Including RAR and ACE, which as said before, aren't really used on commericial sites, but are widely used for warez.

trogman reviewed v7.0 on Jul 8, 2001

heh.. I lost my copy of version 6.x as well.. damn, but anyway I am using 7.0 now and it's pretty damn good. It's a little faster than before, actually I think it's almost just as fast as using Winzip. I really can't blame them for making it shareware after they put so much efforts into this utility. But the new file associate icons really sucked hard. Well... you could change that with iphile tho...

help4all reviewed v7.0 on Jul 4, 2001

haha, some ppl are pathetic... PA is still the best... winzip doesnt compare (it feels like extremly "lite version of PA) and filzip is laughable...maybe in few years? ;)

wartillo reviewed v7.0 on Jul 3, 2001

This is the greatest software for compressed files. I used this software since it was called EasyZip and now this software is no more free ... I changed to this software because it was freeware ... I think I'll have to change again ... but I still think this is a great software execpt the fact this is a copy of WinZip with more compress format ... I'll use PowerArchiver 6.11 freely until I'll found a freeware like this software.

kevlingo reviewed v7.0 on Jun 29, 2001

I cannot believe all your whiners out there! How the hell do you expect people to make a living? The developer of this program has spent a lot of time on this program. He has every right to be compensated. Tell you what...I have a yard that needs mowing, why don't you guys come and mow it...for nothing...that's right...nothing. Ridiculous? My point exactly.

wtwentyman reviewed v7.0 on Jun 27, 2001

Downgraded from freeware to shareware, with minor technical upgrades. I think I'll stick with the old version. Lesson to be learned, if you make a great product and get us hooked, then try to get money, someone ELSE will make the same product for free... just like you did.

hello556 reviewed v7.0 on Jun 25, 2001

It went from best freeware zip to best shareware zip!!!
and I love new autobackup feature....

nate reviewed v7.0 on Jun 24, 2001

Excellent program! Well worth the $19.95 registration fee, which is much cheaper than any other acrhiver out there right now. Version 7.0 just expands upon an already great program with Auto-Backup, BatchZIP, and no more bugs. PowerArchiver has the most features for the cheapest price, how can you go wrong?

apocalance reviewed v7.0 on Jun 24, 2001

I understand they want to get money for spending a pretty good amount of time on this program, but it loses a star for losing that all important "Free" tag it had. I have installed the new version and used it a few times today for various zip files, it seems ok. For a single user, WinZip is $29; WinAce standard is $29; WinAce plus is $39 (adds command line ability); WinRAR is $35. For a list of other compression utilities, check out DaveCentral.com (http://www.davecentral.c...ch.pl?query=compression). I am considering purchasing PowerArchiver, it's been great software.

mrbee reviewed v7.0 on Jun 24, 2001

It was a good free alternative to the shareware out there, but now it's in an arena where WinRAR is king and even though it's shareware, use is unlimited and there are no nags. So Powerarchiver has little relevence now...

Sephirstein reviewed v7.0 on Jun 24, 2001

I heard about this program some time ago, and I decided to ditch WinACE in favour of it. I'd say it's the best move I've made since I ditched WinZIP in favour of WinACE. Everything has to evolve, and PowerArchiver 2001 is the ultimate evolution of WinZIP.

MyMaster reviewed v7.0 on Jun 24, 2001

yeps, powerarchiver v.7 is not free and still has some old bugs, but it is a good program. i'm sticking to pa v6.11 which was really free.

dejavu reviewed v7.0 on Jun 24, 2001

FREE? This program now is shareware!!! The last version freeware was 6.11! Is good program!

jrepin reviewed v7.0 on Jun 23, 2001

This already excellent application is getting better an better. And it's free. When I first tried it I stoped using WinACE, WinRAR and WinZIP and now I only use PowerArchiver.

NYCgreen reviewed v6.11.0 on Mar 3, 2001

It always amamzes me when freeware programs out perform their commercial counterparts. PowerArchiver 2K1 is most certainly a "must have". It's much more complete than WinZip.

wartillo reviewed v6.11.0 on Mar 2, 2001

The best Freeware out there, I use it since it was called EasyZip. One software, a lot of file format, you don't have to buy Winzip, WinAce, WinRar, etc...
And it's skinable ;o)

ivanpetrov reviewed v6.1.1 on Dec 18, 2000

If you think the interface is horrible, check out skins for it because PowerArchiver's toolbar is skinnable - visit http://skins.powerarchiver.com. If you think it is too slow, maybe sometimes is, but on my and 99% other systems it works quite fast comparing to some utilities like WinACE. But you will get totally FREE archiver with built-in support for almost all formats and with many cool features like: Archive Converter, Repair Archive, Span Archive, ...

dso47 reviewed v6.1.1 on Dec 18, 2000

eek! The interface is horrible. Looks like a glitched copy of WinZip. The features and ideas are good tho.

Fixerman reviewed v6.1.1 on Dec 18, 2000

It has been said many times before but it is so true it hurts. This app is awesome. It has everything and more that anybody could ever want from a compression app BUT it is so damn slow. This slowness destroys everything. I install it and start using it for about 15 minutes until I had enough and go back to WinRar which is very fast.
Make it much much faster and you have a real winner on your hands.

MeToYou reviewed v6.0 on Sep 23, 2000

This free app is HOT. I uninstalled WinZip 8.0 ten minutes after testing out PowerArchiver! It can do so much more, and is really no bigger nor slower than WinZip (however, I did find a previous version I can't remember to be unusable, but now 6.0 is truly great). The best part -- other than being FREE of course :) -- is it handles all the important archive formats around today (Warez fans, rejoice! hahaha). Plus it can even extract multiple archives in one shot! (Although this is only available in the main window -- I hope it can be done through the shell extension soon!) Speaking of which, its shell extension does better than WinZip's as well. All in all, one of the best apps ever made in that Delphi crap (Yes, this app is actually very well made in Delphi, for once! lol) Give this one a try, you won't be sorry, and can also delete all those other junks (WinZip, WinRAR, WinACE, yaddayaddayadda). Try PowerArchiver, BAYBEE! :D

RedBadger reviewed v6.0 on Sep 1, 2000

I agree with a post below this one, that this program is SLOW. I have a P3-500 also, so I know its not my computer. Its the reason I no longer use it, but definitely would switch to it if it wasn't so slow.

MeToYou reviewed v6.0 Beta 4 on Aug 22, 2000

I'll tell ya way this thing is slow as hell... because it's made with that damn Delphi! The program is definitely on the right track with features (practically cloned WinZip - lawsuit time?) and archive support (warez-ers rejoice!) - but it's just made with the worst development system around in terms of slow-as-hell UI speed, big memory/resources use, and Delphi's infamous instability (for example, quite often Delphi junk display memory error on exit, etc.).

apocalance reviewed v6.0 Beta 3 on Aug 15, 2000

I really like this program. I don't measure my system resources when I'm using every program on my computer, so I don't really know what resources it's using. I do know that it's free for businesses and personal use, and it supports every format I need it to support. It's a wonderful utility for me to use, so I use it. Thank you for the 100% FREE, GREAT tool.

SloMo
www.wealwayswin.com

dejavu reviewed v6.0 Beta 2 on Aug 12, 2000

Hey man! Power Archiver is freeware. Yes, really you don't need to pay or any damned spyware to bother. If somebody can do something better please make to us...but free and with all resources(unfortunatelly I am not a developer)! Really Power Archiver still remains fat and slow, but I believe in Ivan Petrovic's competence to resolve this annoying.

dejavu reviewed v6.0 Beta 1 on Aug 5, 2000

It's a big freeware in the WEB, but still is fatter, slower and ugly. Dear Petrovich, please take this critic to the positive side. It's a powerful archiver, but needs adjusts!

lh_sabre reviewed v6.0 Beta 1 on Aug 5, 2000

This is a must have utility. I've been using RAMIdle for about half a year now, and I remember how much of a difference it's actually made. qwaszx, this program does help a lot, even with Windows 2000. I have 128Mb of RAM and I still find myself running low when working in applications like Photoshop, etc. and even gaming. To Lord-Data, I run both 98 and 2000 on my desktop, and even though 2000 does handle memory better (because of the memory model being the way it's _supposed_ to be), it still helps to have a utility like this to free up as much memory as possible.

Troy reviewed v6.0 Beta 1 on Aug 5, 2000

You gotta get this! I've used this app since Easyzip 3. Ivan (the developer), good on you for keeping this gem totally free. There are so many xtras than Winzip. A great workhorse.

sphiggo reviewed v6.0 Beta 1 on Aug 4, 2000

I mean loud!!! :-)

t0a5t reviewed v5.6 on Jun 22, 2000

I have been using this proggie since it was EasyZip. Never even wanted to use anything else. I'm amazed something this good is free. Kudoz to Ivan for this gem!

Cool-Gui reviewed v5.6 Beta 3 on Jun 19, 2000

Power Archiver definately kicks much ass. It's the only zip application I use now, Winzip is long gone. The only thing it could use work on is code optimizations. I guess it's built in Delphi and the window rendering is pretty slow on startup no matter how fast your system is. Other than that, PowerArchiver is the archiver to beat.

GHackmann reviewed v5.5 SR-1 on May 18, 2000

An incredible program. I've tried them all: WinZip, Quick View Plus, ZipMagic, and even McAfee Zip Manager, and I've ditched them all in favor of PowerArchiver. The ability to open every file format under the sun is a huge plus, and I love the fact that it's free! If it were a little more optimized (it's a little resource hungry) then it'd be the ultimate WinZip killer. Along with Hackman (an industrial-strength hex editor), this is definitely one of the best under-publicized freeware utilities available.

bobad reviewed v5.5 on Apr 29, 2000

Nice program! Great work, Ivan! I just dumped Winzip, Winrar, and Norton Multi Unzip and replaced them with this nifty, versatile program. My only complaints are that this is not a polished program. No, it hasn't crashed, but it is a little large, loads a little slowly, and is not smooth. Screens seem to flash for a millisecond or 2 before it settles down. The big icons need anti-aliasing or smoothing out too. The multi-unzip feature is wonderful, but flashes badly before going to work. Wish list: "always on top" option, and shell integration for multi-unzip. (right click on a folder and multi-unzip to another folder) This would prevent having to select all, and save time and mouse moves. Keep it going Ivan! Smooth it out and you have a 10!

GreekGod911 reviewed v5.5 on Apr 23, 2000

Great support for multiple file types, however I had a lot of trouble with CAB files with passwords. If compression is your life, then don't get this, stick to using lots of programs that are specialised in their specific areas. Winace all the way!

gusghanem reviewed v5.5 on Apr 13, 2000

This is absolutely the best archiving utility there is, and it's free! And I have tried them all...

jier reviewed v5.5 on Apr 13, 2000

goto our Webpage and download it:
http://www.545studios.com

eklipze reviewed v5.5 Beta 3 on Apr 11, 2000

EXCELLENT program - has all the functionality of WinZip and then some - i would recommend this proggie to anyone that wants some excellent compression/decompression util. without having to put up with winzip.

reidyn reviewed v5.5 Beta 3 on Apr 11, 2000

Awesome, they *FINALLY* have recognized PowerArchiver on BetaNews!!!!! I have been using this since 4.0, when it was called "EasyZip". Although this masterpiece isn't as aesthetically developed as WinZip, it is functionally superior. It has every option I've ever used in WinZip, yet supports a whole lot of compression types that WinZip DOESN'T support -- especially those I REALLY needed, like RAR, and ACE. And best of all, it *CREATES* some archives that WinZip won't, like CAB. I have to commend the programmer for not only giving this program away as FREEWARE, but being extremely available on his web page discussion forum (at www.powerarchiver.com) for suggestions, bug reports, etc. He seems to respond to virtually every request or report almost immediately. I was stunned to see the guy actually apologizing for a bug someone reported!! I thought it was totally unnecessary for him to apologize for a minor bug in an awesome FREE program.... My only two complaints: 1) Pain in the a** to upgrade from a previous release -- Some DLL in the PA directory gets locked by the OS just by booting the computer, and the only way to unlock it is to uninstall and then reboot. 2) On installation in Win2K, it always wants to overwrite cab.dll with an older version.... But these are minor installation gripes and don't reflect at all on the quality of the program once it's installed. If you haven't gotten this program yet, GET IT NOW. And while you're at it, go thank the programmer for the uncompensated time he's spent on this program.

rive23 reviewed v5.5 Beta 3 on Apr 11, 2000

Great program. Highly recomend this program. Look for a full review at www.jnrservices.com

Pakman reviewed v5.5 Beta 3 on Apr 11, 2000

This is a pretty damn good program, I recommend it over any other compression software.

dcarrico reviewed v5.5 Beta 3 on Apr 11, 2000

AWESOME !! It's WinZip8- or higher on Viagra.
It makes me believe in computers again.
Power, Speed and Looks. It's a WINNER!!!!!!!!!

chlorine reviewed v5.5 Beta 3 on Apr 11, 2000

i think it is great. the only thing it lacks is command line options so it could be executed via scripts like winzip can..... it duplicates everything winzip does why not this?

andreocc reviewed v5.1 on Apr 3, 2000

This software is Great! i replace the Winace and the WinRar for this, the interface is very simple.
Congratulations for the author.

seekup reviewed v5.1 on Apr 3, 2000

Its stupid to rate a program low just cause someone messed up a link... that just screws up the rating for others. Its a good program.

gcgjr reviewed v5.1 on Mar 8, 2000

Dump the rest, PowerArchiver 2000 is the best. I handles more formats than most people will compress in a lifetime! I must agree, kudos Ivan Petrovic and his team for a superb program development job.

Agitatr reviewed v5.1 on Mar 7, 2000

This is a great program. It supports so many different file formats & has such a clean interface it will be replacing Win-zip on my machine. I was getting tired of having to use so many different programs to compress or decompress files. finally there is a solution. Kudos to the Author.