If you ever felt the need to compress a folder or file, you would definitely have come across .rar files. This type of file formats is extremely useful for compressing files. Technically, t he RAR files are the archived file formats of the WinRar archiver. These files support the features of compression of data files and error recovery. Thus, the files with .rar extension are the data containers, and store one or more files in a compressed or zipped form. Such files were invented by a Russian software engineer Eugene Roshal and thus, the name RAR stands for Roshal Archive. This software is licensed by win.rar.GmbH.
So, what does a user do with this type of file format?
After a file with the RAR is downloaded (which contains data in a compressed form) , the user has to unpack its contents so that they can be used. These files contain large amounts of data in a compressed mode and thus, it is necessary that all of the contained files should be unzipped and unpacked so that they can be used originally and individually. The compression ratio of a RAR file is higher and better than that of a ZIP file. The RAR files can also create multi-volume archives which are spanned and are split across other compressed files. Apart from the typical . rar extension, such files may also have extensions from .R00 to .R99.
The files with the RAR can be extracted and opened through various decompression programs. An example of such programs is the 7-Zip tool. Any such program will easily decompress the .rar files and will disintegrate the clubbed files contained in the parent file. After extraction, the smaller files can be easily used through different programs by double-clicking on them. The computer will itself find a suitable program to open such files. Some of these decompression softwares may also have the ability of creating the files with . rar extensions.
The latest version of the RAR format is the v5.0 which is the current version also and was implemented by Eugene Roshal. It is the new and improved version as it can accumulate the dictionary data of up to 1 GB. Also, it features higher compression and decompression speeds and enhances the multicore decompression support system. It also detects the duplication of a file and automatically removes text, multimedia and binary algorithms. Lastly, it also improves the recovery system of the computer to a great extent.
Open RAR File on Windows OS
- Look for an RAR file you need to open in Windows Explorer and double-click on it
- If the file doesn’t open automatically and you see a “Windows can’t open a file” message then you should search for a program which can open RAR file
- If you have a program which can open RAR file installed on your computer then launch that program and select “File” and then “Open” or similar options from its menu to open the RAR file
- If you don’t have the program installed then you need to try searching for “RAR wiki”, “how to open RAR file” in the search engine.
- Once you find the application, install it on your computer
- After the program is installed double-click on the RAR file to open it
File extensions are used by Windows operating system to specify what kind of information is stored in the file. Every file in Windows OS needs to have file extension and file extensions are used by Windows to determine which application it should use to open the file. Every application installed on Windows OS places information about which extensions it could open into the Windows registry and Windows uses this information to determine which application it should launch when user double-clicks on the file. If application which can open RAR file is not installed, then Windows will show ‘Windows can’t open RAR file’ message and buttons to either select an application on the computer which can open the file or to search the web for the application which can open RAR file.