Adding Files to an Archive

General Information

For introductory information, please see the section entitled "Brief Tutorial - Adding Files".

This section explains how to use the standard Add dialog box for Adding files to the Archive.

There are several other ways to add files to an archive:

• Directly from Windows Explorer, as described in the section entitled "Windows Shell Integration"
• By using the the Drag and Drop interface

Adding Files to Archive

To add files to an archive, click on the "Add" button on the toolbar or select "Add..." from the "Actions" menu. This will bring up the Add dialog box.

There are several ways of adding files:

• You can choose files and folders by selecting them from the list, just as you would if you were creating a new archive. Select multiple files by using the standard methods (holding "shift" or "ctrl" keys).

Detailed Options Overview

Here you can find a detailed list of options available in the standard Add Dialog Box, used when you are creating new archives or adding files to an existing archive.

Main (Selection) Options:

• "File list" - lets you select files and folders that you want to add to the archive.
   
• "Files" -  you will see names of files and folders selected here.
   
• "File Paths" - lets you choose how you want file path information saved:
  • "Store relative paths" - PowerArchiver will store any folder path information specified in the file listing.
    (e.g. if you selected "C:\temp\disk\" to archive, PowerArchiver will save the path information for files and subfolders under the "disk" directory)
    
    Please Note: When relative path is chosen, and if you select only one folder to be added to the archive, PowerArchiver will act as if you selected all of the files in the folder and not the actual folder. You can turn this option off by enabling Configuration> Miscellaneous> Use normal relative path.
     
  • "Store full paths" - PowerArchiver will store full path information for all files.
    (e.g. if you selected "C:\temp\disk\" to archive, PowerArchiver will save the path as "temp\disk\").
  • "Do not store paths" - does not store any path information. PowerArchiver will warn you if you have the same filenames in different subdirectories, since that renders this option useless.

• Action
  • "Add" -  adds all specified files to the archive.
  • "Update" - similar to Freshen, but it also adds any specified files that are not already in the archive.
  • "Freshen" - updates files already in the archive that have the same names as files being added.
  • "Move" - works similar to Add, except those files are actually deleted from the disk after they are added.

   

• "Compression" - determines the compression method. Maximum compression is usually on the top of the list and results in the best (and slowest) compression available for the specified format. At the bottom of the list is usually the "storing" method, which does not compress the files while archiving them, but is usually much faster. This method is only useful if you are archiving files that have already been compressed.

 

• Profiles
  • "Profile:" - lets you select compression profile you want to use. If you did not setup any profiles in "Configuration> Compression Profiles", it will use default compression profile. Click here to learn more about Compression Profiles.

 

• Additional Options
  • "Include System and Hidden files" - adds files marked 'system' or 'hidden' by Windows. By default, this option is checked.
  • "Include Subfolders" - will add all files in the subfolders of a specified directory.
  • "Encrypt archive after compressing (.pae)" - activates Encryption Tool after compression (.pae).
  • "Create Solid Archive" - This option will let you create a Solid archive (7-Zip only). All the files in the Solid archives are treated as one big file, which lets you achieve much better compression. However, Solid archives can not been updated or changed in most cases. CAB format uses Solid archives by default while with 7-Zip you can turn it on and off.
  
  
• Advanced ZIP Options
  • "Write directly into ZIP" - lets you add files to an existing ZIP directly, without using temporary folder first. This feature is very useful when handling large archives.
  • "Use Deflate64" - uses more advanced Deflate64 compression algorithm that is compatible with only the PkZip 4.5 standard. These archives can be read only with applications supporting the PkZip 4.5 standard.
  • "Make Large ZIP File (over 4 GB)" - creates archives that can be larger than 4 GB and 65,555 files in PkZip 4.5 compatible standard. If you are compressing more than 4 GB of data or 65,555 files, you must check this option. These archives can be read only with applications supporting the PkZip 4.5 standard.
  • "Add only with "Archive" attribute set" - adds only files that have the Archive attribute set.
  • "Clear Archive attribute" - clears the Archive attribute of each file after compression.

   

• Multiple disk spanning allows you to create multi-volume archives (ZIP only).

  Spanning offers the following options for controlling the size of each volume:

  • "Automatic" - it will prompt for another diskette when the diskette on which you are creating the ZIP file is full.
  • "Custom" - allows you to select custom volume sizes; you can enter sizes in kilobytes (kB). Enter values in "Max volume size:" box.
  • "No Spanning" - PowerArchiver will not attempt to create a multi-volume archive.
     
  • "Max. Volume Size" - lets you set volume size of the spanned archive (only when Custom is selected).

  Mode

  • "PkZip 4.5" - makes PkZip 4.5 compatible archives, readable by newer versions of all popular compression utilities.
    naming scheme: test.zip.zip, test.zip.z01, test.zip.z02, etc.
  • "PkZip/PA 7.0" - makes archives that are compatible with both PkZip and PowerArchiver 7.xx.
    naming scheme: test.zip, test.z01, test.z02, etc.
  • "PowerArchiver (older versions) Compatible" - creates archives that are compatible with PowerArchiver 6.xx or earlier. Last file needs to be opened in order for PA to recognize spanned archive. This Mode is only recommended for use when you need to send files to people with PowerArchiver 6.xx or lower.
    naming scheme: test001.zip, test002.zip, etc.

  Format target disk

  • "Quick" - deletes all the files from removable drive.
  • "Full" - formats removable drive.

 

• Zip Encryption
  • "Disabled" - disables encryption for ZIP archives.
  • "PK 2.04g" - creates standard ZIP archives, with weak encryption but readable by all Zip utilities.
  • "PK AES 128 bits" - creates encrypted ZIP archives with PK AES 128 bit encryption, readable by newer Zip utilities (PowerArchiver 9.xx, PkZip 8.xx, WinZip 9.xx, etc).
  • "PK AES 192 bits" - creates encrypted ZIP archives with PK AES 192 bit encryption, readable by newer Zip utilities (PowerArchiver 9.xx, PkZip 8.xx, WinZip 9.xx, etc).
  • "PK AES 256 bits" - creates encrypted ZIP archives with PK AES 256 bit encryption, readable by newer Zip utilities (PowerArchiver 9.xx, PkZip 8.xx, WinZip 9.xx, etc).

• "Set ZIP password" - enter password for encryption selected method above.
   

  Please Note: While PK 2.04g encryption can be read by all Zip utilities, this method uses weak encryption that can be broken. You should use .PAE encryption or ZIP AES encryption if you require real security. We do not recommend using both ZIP Encryption and .PAE encryption at the same time. You can find out more about secure encryption here.

Copyrighted ⌐ 1998-2004 ConeXware, Inc All Rights Reserved. See Introduction page for more info.