winrar - bad change

[Ron Whitfield]

All of a sudden my winrar files have changed, and I can no longer open/play anything.
The header says (evealuation copy), and the window doesn't react. Maybe it said this before, but the popup is now different and useless. I can't even click on the file.
What just happened, and how can I restore my files?

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: winrar - bad change

I tried this fixit ap http://www.advancedfileoptimizer.com/afterinstall.aspx but so far nothing.
Could this help? http://www.craig.copperleife.com/tech/crc_error.htm

[GregLee]

Re: winrar - bad change

I suppose you could pay. As I recall, winrar is a proprietary for-fee archiving format. Having successfully sucked you in, now it's time for the winrar folks to start making some money off you. There is a free Linux program "unrar" (could also be a windows version) which can retrieve files stored in rar archives. That might work for you. (And next time, use a free format -- these days, I think "zip" is free.)

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: winrar - bad change

Are you saying winrar pulled the plug, how can they physically do this, and does it affect the tons of files I also have in an external hard drive? The limit ran out nearly a year ago.
Can I change my files to zips?

[GregLee]

Re: winrar - bad change

Yes, I'm saying winrar pulled the plug. I'm not sure, since I haven't used rar for years, but it does sound like it. How did they do it? I'd guess the program came with an expiration date embedded in its code, and whenever you use it, it asks your computer for the current date, then if that is later than the expiration date, it refuses to do its thing, and just notifies you that your evaluation copy of the program has expired. The idea is to give you a reason to pay for a copy of the program that won't expire.

If that's all there is to it, you might be able to simply replace your copy of winrar with another free evaluation copy which has a later expiration date. Another possibility is to set your computer's date back to a fictitious time before the expiration date. I can't say whether either of these techniques would work, though. I think that schemes used by writers of proprietary software have evolved, and may be more difficult to defeat.

As I mentioned, there is (or at least was) a free program "unrar" that will extract the files from a rar archive. You could probably use that to retrieve all your files from the rar archives, then perhaps rearchive them with zip.

Someone who uses MS Windows could give you better advice. I've used only free software for over 20 years.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: winrar - bad change

Thanx, Greg
Do I need to delete the current winrar to effectively reinstall, and will deleting change/damage my files?

[GregLee]

Re: winrar - bad change

Thanx, Greg
Do I need to delete the current winrar to effectively reinstall, and will deleting change/damage my files?

I've never used winrar. If you don't delete it, and you try to use a new version, I suppose there might be some confusion about which one you're using. I don't see how deleting your present version of winrar could possibly damage your rar archives.

It would be easy for the makers of winrar to arrange to mark the rar archives as having been created by an evaluation copy of winrar with its expiration date, then a new evaluation winrar could refuse to extract files from it, or even delete the archive. I don't think they would do that, but it would be feasible. So after deleting your present copy of winrar and installing a new one, it wouldn't hurt to make a backup copy of the rar archive you first ask the new winrar to extract a file from, just to be extra safe.

Good luck.

[zff]

Re: winrar - bad change

I noticed with Windows 7, you can just change the extension of your .rar files to .zip and the OS will handle them natively. You can't create .rars though. Or if you can, I haven't figured out how.

[GregLee]

Re: winrar - bad change

I noticed with Windows 7, you can just change the extension of your .rar files to .zip and the OS will handle them natively.

That's a wonderful discovery. It's like adding "Mc" to my last name so that I become able to play the bagpipes.

[zff]

Re: winrar - bad change

Sorry, I was wrong.

Apparently, I have something installed on my work computer that can manipulate rar files.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: winrar - bad change

I dl'd 7-zip and it's not opening a damn thing, doesn't even come up in some option menus.

[GregLee]

Re: winrar - bad change

I dl'd 7-zip and it's not opening a damn thing, doesn't even come up in some option menus.

I'm sorry that 7-zip isn't doing anything useful for you. I used 7-zip a few years ago on my wife's MS system -- it seemed to work okay. Have you tried the program I suggested? I see that winrar has several versions of "unrar" as freeware. Here is one: http://www.rarlab.com/rar/unrarw32.exe.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: winrar - bad change

Yesterday I merely dl'd winrar again and I'm back in bizniz, so the world is right once more, for a while...
I found I can transfer the files to another folder with windows, I guess, but are those now completely independent of winrar and won't be affected when winrar konks out again?

[GregLee]

Re: winrar - bad change

That's great. Yes, if your files are still in rar archives and the new winrar you just downloaded is also an evaluation copy, I guess you can expect it to expire once again, eventually. If you don't want the irritation, you could just extract all the files from the rar archives now (once they are extracted, I don't think winrar can affect them any more), or else pay for a non-expiring version of winrar.