25 Tools to Compress files and folders for Free.
By Chris Martin at 22 August, 2008, 6:44 pm
WinZip and Winrar are the proven leaders for data compression for decades. But why to shell out 30$ for these tools. Below is the list of 25 free Data compression utilities that are comparable to winzip and winrar with other advance options available with them.
1. 7-Zip - It is a full featured utility with advance options available. Read my previous post for 7-zip.
2. Bzip2 and Libbzip2 - Patent free, high-quality data compressor for Windows or Unix. It has some very unique features like- it Synchronize the contents of any zip package with the corresponding file folder, repair damaged zip files et cetera.
3. FreeZip - FreeZip is a small, fast and efficient Zip utility for compression and decompression of files and directories.
4. Zipfusion - Flexible self-extractor, Zipfusion can be used with any zip tools that create type 0/8/9 (stored/deflate/deflate64) format zip files.Feature a built-in configuration editor.
5. BigSpeed Zipper - bzip2 is a freely available, patent free (see below), high-quality data compressor. It is a compact ZIP tool with unusual features such as browsing ZIP files before downloading and full-text search of ZIP file contents.
6. zipdiff - Use the zipdiff tool when you need to compare the contents of two zip files. It is equally suited for comparing jar files, EAR files, WAR files or RAR files.
7. Dzip - Compact Windows compression program that creates small .DZ archive files. Integrates with Windows Explorer. Dzip can create self-extracting exe files out of its .dz files, so you can send files to your friends who don’t have Dzip!
8. Optimal archive - Optimal Archive comes as a standalone application, but you need to register first to get the free copy.
9. Tugzip - Free archiving utility with Windows integration, script support and ZIP-64 for huge archives. It can also repair corrupted ZIP and SQX archives.
10. ZIPGenius - This utility is full-featured ZIP program with SFX and ZIP-64 support. Also supports AES encryption 7-ZIP format and integrated image-viewing.
11. FileCompress Uharc Gui - A free Uharc 0.4 Gui (Graphical User Interface) with SFX and other features like preview of .uha file. In simple words it represents the simplest way to use the Uharc with all of its options.
12. ICEOWS - Windows compression utility using the ARJ format (was called ArjFolder). Can extract, test, and view files stored in ZIP, GZIP, TAR, CAB, RAR, ACE, PK3, etc. and create SFX executables.
13. XStandard Zip Component - ZIP or unzip a file or folder using a single line of code with this free component. This component can be used in environments that support COM such as Active Server Pages, Windows Scripting Host, Visual Basic, etc.
14. LZX - Encoding for LZX uses a compact way of encoding large match offsets. The data are grouped into large blocks, instead of being individually compressed.
15. MultiZipper - It unzip program for Windows that doesn’t prompt before overwriting files. Supports shell links, drag and drop, and command line.
16. StuffIt Expander - It decompresses all files in any of the StuffIt formats. It can easily decode single and multi-part BinHex files.
17. WinBZip2 - A small GUI utility for working with files in bzip2 format, compressing, decompressing and testing the integrity of bzip2 files. The bzip2 is an command line driven compression utility, similar to gzip.
18. WinGZip - It allows to compress any file into gzip format, decompress and test the integrity of already gzipped files.
19. WinImp - Extracts ZIP, ARJ, RAR, TAR as well as higher-compression IMP format. Includes drag-and-drop capability and creation of custom SFX files which can launch a file after unpacking. WinImp can compress multiple files together as a unit for higher compression.
20. Zip 2 Secure EXE - Utility to convert any ZIP file into a self-extracting executable. Supports AES encryption, can unpack automatically to a temporary directory and run a setup.exe after extraction. For more information visit here
21. Quick Zip - Free zip compression utility for Windows, create, extract, and testing for zip archives.
22. Gzip - It is an open source command line data stream compressor and archiver.
23. ZipFree 2000 - It has integrated virus check and integrated emailing for quick ZIP and send options and supports SFX creation and pre-extraction viewing.
24. ZipItFast - ZIP program with a skinned interface and full support for over 20 compression formats. In addition, it create UUE / XXE encoded files for email compatibility.
25. Zipfocus - Zipfocus is a small, portable, zip reader/viewer/extractor suitable for general use or the restoration of backups.
Please share if you are ware of some other freeware data compression utilities.For more tips visit About Online Tips
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