Tell me about .rar
June 12, 2004 2:05 AM   Subscribe

What do I do with a .rar file?

I've just downloaded a piece of abandonware from www.the-underdogs.org. It was a zip file, which when unzipped gave me a rar file. I understand this is some sort of archive, so what can I use to extract it on Windows 98? I usually use linux, so I'm completely lost when it comes to Windows utilities. And yes, I have tried googling!
posted by salmacis to Computers & Internet (12 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Apparently not real well - the first listing when you google for rar takes you right to WinRAR.
posted by Doktor at 2:09 AM on June 12, 2004


It's worth mentioning that WinRAR can open RAR and ZIP files, but WinZip can't open RAR files. WinRAR is more useful to have around, generally.
posted by reklaw at 2:39 AM on June 12, 2004


Response by poster: I found WinRAR but it has a trial licence (for both linux and Windows). Is there not a piece of freeware out there?

(I acutually dealt with this particular file by booting back into linux, typing 'urpmi unrar' and 'unrar --help'. A permanent Windows solution would be better!)
posted by salmacis at 3:05 AM on June 12, 2004


unrar, command line for every platform under the sun

how far into the website did you look?
posted by cheaily at 3:09 AM on June 12, 2004


Response by poster: Hmm. I thought that web page was trying to flog me a commercial version of WinRAR. The page cheaily mentioned is found if you click on 'extras' in the menu - not exactly intuitive. Mea culpa.

Anyway, thanks for the help.
posted by salmacis at 3:34 AM on June 12, 2004


Or you could use the freeware ICEOWS.
posted by skryche at 5:26 AM on June 12, 2004


I use Filzip which is freeware and handles most formats. I really like it.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:07 AM on June 12, 2004


IZArc seems to handle most everything. And it integrates nicely with Explorer's context menu.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:54 AM on June 12, 2004


Damn you, FFF. Third time it's happened in the last few days that the last thread comment echoes my intended reply.
posted by Gyan at 12:19 PM on June 12, 2004


extractnow is another piece of freeware and can do zip, rar, ace or jar files.
posted by Hackworth at 2:55 PM on June 12, 2004


And Sal takes a nutmeg!
posted by billsaysthis at 5:36 PM on June 12, 2004


Gyan: Muuuuwhahahah! It's all part of my dastardly plan!
posted by five fresh fish at 6:55 PM on June 12, 2004


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