Hey! Here I am going to tell you about How to convert Rar file to Zip file in an easy way which would lead you to the comfort zone of advanced computing.
What is the difference between a ZIP file and RAR file?
Do you know what a ZIP file is and why RAR file formats are used? What are the differences between the two? Basically, what purpose does a ZIP file hold and Rar file can fulfil? So, here in this blog, we are going to tell you everything that you need to know about these 2 file formats. Let’s begin!
What is a ZIP file format?
ZIP is no doubt used widely by all computer fanatics. A type of file format that has data containers containing one or more than one file to be compressed together or zipped together through a compression technique known as ZIP compression. ZIP does data compression without loss of data and is widely used for archiving purposes.
Today, a lot of software vendors have included this as in-built ZIP support in terms of software utilities such as Microsoft and Mac OS X. Moreover, it can be easily extracted through any program that has the capability of creating a ZIP file.
Well, ZIP can not only archive files by doing file compression, but also encrypts files that are usually password protected. Furthermore, it has the capability of splitting the archived files with just a few clicks. There are several methods such as WavPack, DEFLATE, BZIP2, LZMA & PPMd etc. that can compress multiple files or zip them together as one single entity. Powerful! Right? Let’s explore the second file that is RAR file format.
RAR File Format
The full form of RAR is Roshal Archive Compressed. It is an archived file format that is proprietary. Like ZIP files this can also have multiple files even folders compressed together. But the data compression technique of RAR files is considered as a better option to archive and compress the files. Unlike ZIP files, RAR files are not on your hard drive and it requires a third party software in order to open and extract the archived contents. RAR is a native file format of WinRAR archiver.
Furthermore, RAR formats are known to be compressed archives and widely used for folders compression. Here, the archive is referred to as a folder that might have kept a lot of files. Whereas, compression refers to the mathematical computation that is used to decrease the overall space of the archived folders to reduce the size of the archived folder.
How to Convert Rar File to Zip File
To summarise, the RAR file format works with a compression method. So, if you want to store multiple files of folders in a compressed format then use RAR file format. Let me give a practical day to day example.
Let’s say you have to send your favourite songs, pictures, MP3 files, Videos, or simple documents that are in bulk to someone through an email. But you already know that mail delivery systems do not provide this heavy size attachment so how is it possible?
Well, at this time, you can make the best use of a WinRAR Software of archive & compress folders.
How do I make a Rar folder?
Do you get a lot of email attachments as a RAR format? Don’t have an idea on how to open it? Basically, stuck on extracting it? Don’t worry, here are simple steps on how to compress a file or a folder to a RAR file format.
Steps to compress files or folder to a RAR folder
Step 1 –Â Simply, download a WinRAR Software from Google and install it on your computer.
Step 2 – Go to the local store where you have a file or folder to be archived. Right, Click on the file or folder as shown in the image below you will get this option to ‘Add to archive’. Select this option.
Image Source – https://www.howto-connect.com/how-to-compress-files-or-folder-to-rar-file/
Step 3 – Now open the Archive name also the parameters window as shown in the figure below and then select the ‘OK’ button.
Image Source – https://www.howto-connect.com/how-to-compress-files-or-folder-to-rar-file/
Step 4 – Now you will see the processing bar as it will create your archive files and will then depending on the folder size will complete the compression in a few minutes.
Image Source – https://www.howto-connect.com/how-to-compress-files-or-folder-to-rar-file/
Step 5 – As shown in the image below, after the processing bar is completed to 100%, you will finally get your RAR folder. Here in the space, you will find your archived folder with a RAR extension. You can check the file size of this compressed version.
Image Source – https://www.howto-connect.com/how-to-compress-files-or-folder-to-rar-file/
Now, we have learnt how to create a RAR file, let’s move to how to open a RAR file.
How to open a RAR file?
So, you have created your first RAR folder. Now, if you want to extract or say open a RAR extension file on your computer system, follow the steps below.
Step 1 – Install WinRAR on your system first.
Step 2 – Now as shown in the figure below, right-click on the RAR file and click on ‘Extract file’ option.
Image Source – https://www.howto-connect.com/how-to-compress-files-or-folder-to-rar-file/
Step 3 – Now open the ‘Extraction Path’ then Options window and click ‘OK’. Refer to the image below.
Image Source – https://www.howto-connect.com/how-to-compress-files-or-folder-to-rar-file/
Step 4 – Similar to the compression process bar, the extraction process bar of the RAR folder will also complete in a few minutes and you will see the simple file format in the location with the same name on your computer system. It’s done.
Why can’t I extract a ZIP file?
5 common reasons why you are unable to extract a ZIP file format –
- Incomplete Downloads: Let’s say a bad internet connection has hindered your file transfer or a power cut has given you an incomplete download then due to file errors ZIP file will refuse to open.
- Improper Compression: Low battery or an abrupt power failure has halted your file compression? Friend, you have a corrupt file in that case that has undergone the compression process. ZIP cannot open damaged files.
- ZIP Header Corruption: ZIP file formats have a feature known as “header”. This is responsible for keeping information such as file name, creation date, file size, etc. This header information is very much essential to open or access the file contents.
- Changed File Extension: A Zip file will seriously get damaged if its actual extension is altered to a different format. As a result, the windows will not support it and ZIP files can’t be extracted.
- Virus Infections: A malware infection or a virus has all the capabilities to replicate the ZIP file content and therefore corrupt the ZIP file.
Are Rar files dangerous?
RAR files, even ZIP files, are not dangerous until they have malware included inside them that are indeed dangerous. Malware is frequently spread through the RAR file formats, even ZIP files in many cases.
It is recommended to open a RAR file only when you are confident enough of the source that has sent you the data. Do not open it otherwise an unknown source, especially if you don’t have a virus scanner installed on your system. Another point to consider is that if you are expecting a video, but the RAR file contains an .exe file, my friend it’s a guaranteed malware.
Which is faster, ZIP or RAR?
Faster? Well, you need to understand one thing first. If we are talking about the compression rate along with speed factors then RAR wins. But as always the mileage depends largely on the archiving application we use. It also depends on the hardware on which the archiver runs along with the type of file (document, image, MP3, video, etc.) that is required to be compressed.
If you have a RAR application supported by windows such as WinRAR then RAR compression is speedier than ZIP. But yes, if you talk about compression & decompression, ZIP wins the race. This holds true whether you native ZIP support by Windows or third-party software such as WinZip.
Another point of comparison is the availability that is among the most important one. ZIP wins that as you are always sure to get the ZIP support for file compression and decompression. There are no licensing issues associated with ZIP.
Final Words | How to Convert Rar File to Zip File
With this we come to the end of this blog, do let us know your take on ZIP and RAR in the blog comment section. If you like the blog, do share the good stuff with your social network too!
Stay Digital!