ALZip v6.13 - User Guide and FAQ

There are several ways to add files to an existing archive. The following are the most common ways to do so:

1. Using Windows Explorer: Drag and drop one or more files onto an existing archive icon. *This is the absolute FASTEST way.

2. Add files to an archive file: Run ALZip and click the Add button. An Add dialog box will appear.

3. Drag & Drop into ALZip: Open an archive file with ALZip and drag and drop files into the ALZip main application window.

Frequently Asked Questions - ALZip

1. What is Archiving?
   Archiving (or compression) is a technology that enables files to be compressed by deleting duplicated information and replacing it with codes that are shorter in length. This reduces the file size so that it needs less space on disk. Archives also make it easy to group files, making transporting and copying files much faster. Archives usually have file extensions like ALZ, ZIP, LZH, or ARJ, depending on how they were created. The opposite of "to archive" (or "to compress") is "to extract" (or "to decompress").
   
   
2. What is a Beta version?
   There are three basic phases in software development: alpha, beta, and final release.
   Alpha versions are not released outside of a software company. They are only used inside of a company for debugging and further development purposes. The alpha phase includes unit testing, component testing, and system testing.
   The beta phase can be considered "pre-release testing". Beta versions of software are distributed to a wide audience partly to give the program a "real-world" test and partly to provide a preview of the next release. Beta testers are usually experienced users or other developers. Inexperienced users are generally discouraged from using beta software.
   The last phase, the final release, is when a program is published in its final version.
   The process of releasing programs like this is called Configuration Management.
   
   
3. What are spanned archives?
   Spanned archive refers to the method of dividing compressed files into multiple, smaller files.
   
   
4. Can I change a spanned archive into a self-extracting format?
   Yes, you can transform archive files into executable files with the ALZip Self-Extractor. Simply right-click on the first file in the spanned archive, the one with the .alz file extension, and then click ALZip Self-Extractor (EXE). Click OK and you're done. A new .exe file will be in the same directory. You can erase the original .alz file because it is no longer needed.
   
   
5. Can I use ALZip to extract files from other archiving utilities and vice versa?
   Of course! You can extract any of 27 different archive formats with ALZip. It doesn't matter which utility originally created the file. As for other utilities extracting archives made with ALZip, that depends... As long as the archiving utility supports the file format of the archive that you made with ALZip, then yes. For example, you can't extract an ALZip ALZ file with gzip (a UNIX archiving utility), but you can extract ALZip TGZ archives with gzip. Likewise for WinZip, you can't extract BH (blakhole) files with WinZip.
   
   
6. Does ALZip support the RAR format?
   Yes, but you can only extract RAR files due to copyright issues. Eugene Roshal of RarSoft, the company that makes WinRAR, doesn't allow other utilities to create RAR archive files.
   
   
7. Why do I have to type my password when first making an archive?
   Password protecting files protects you against casual users who don't have the password and try to spy on the contents of your files.
   As a security measure, passwords are only set by the person who first creates the archive, when they create the archive. Subsequent users, including the person who created the archive, cannot alter or change the password. Not even the ALZip developers at ESTsoft Corp. can access your passwords. So if you lose a password, don't call us because there isn't anything we can do about it. But you can try the ALZip password recovery tool.
   
   
8. How do I respond to a "Header Corrupt" message?
   When a "Header corrupt" message appears, there may be a virus problem or other download problem. This is not a problem with ALZip or the ALZip Self-Extractor.