WinRAR is an efficient, lossless compression program from RARLAB. It runs on Windows, Linux, MacOS X, DOS, OS/2, Pocket PC and other operating systems. Installation and set up is simple and painless.

WinRAR is available to download from many sites including RARLAB itself at http://www.win-rar.com/. The front page of this site, offers you the option of buying the WinRAR now, or downloading a 40-day trial version.

If you are thinking of buying a copy, it may be useful to look at some of the global partners found at http://www.win-rar.com/globalp artners.html. The first UK global partner I looked at was selling WinRAR for 23.50 pounds (US$46.63) compared to 27.83 pounds (US$55.22) direct from RARLAB.

There are several different versions to install. This includes an impressive list of localized versions in languages from Albanian to Vietnamese. If you are not sure which version you require, the default version can be downloaded by clicking on the big button at the top of the page. It worked for me. The package is 1.15 MB in size and downloads in seconds via broadband, a couple of minutes using a modem.

Once downloaded, run the setup executable 'warXXX.exe'. A form is displayed with the End User License and the opportunity to choose the destination folder for the installation. Pressing the install button installs WinRAR. Then another form is displayed showing set up options. I usually leave all the setup options on the default values. Click on the Done button and it is all over.

To change the set up options after installation is complete use the WinRAR Options menu then select Settings, or press Ctrl-s to give the Settings form. You may be interested in changing the context menu, I uncheck the show icons in the context menus' option. The associated file extensions for WinRAR can also be altered here, I normally select all', that way only one compression program will be associated with compressed files on the PC. It is also possible to configure WinRAR so that it starts in Wizard mode, an option I never use.

There you are, ready to compress and extract. As I said before, it is simple and painless.

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