Solved My countless copies of Winzip do not work on Windows 8....

I went to them to purchase yet another updated copy, but refuse to lease the software for an annual fee, which appears to be their new business model. (“N, O, nu-uh”.)

Yes compression comes native with Windows, but I'd like to password protect backups and such, and find it handy to have it in the menu when I right-click on a file(s). Is there a standout alternative for the 64bit Win 8.1 environment? I've heard of 7-Zip, but know nothing about the various competing apps.

I Love Free Software10 Best Free Alternatives to Winzip and Winrar

Use WinRAR, it's better, should be a free version of it somewhere.

I'm a total wussy with downloading apps, even CNET – for fear of deception and making the wrong decision and having a bunch of junk installed. I was not able to find a free copy of WinRAR.

But I did just find this - The Best File Archive Utility for Windows

And this - PeaZip 64 bit | Open and extract RAR 7Z TAR ZIP ZIPX files

I'm feeling bold and ..crazy. I'm going to run into the other room holding scissors just before I install an unknown new app!

PeaZip | Free Security & Utilities software downloads at SourceForge.net
Has been working very well here, been using it for years.
btw, remember the 'do not accept' for the extra app they bundle with the latest version.
And if happy with the program, as always with free stuff, evaluate a donation.

Thank you for the replies (I'm a bit late - sorry.)

PeaZip was crushing-it. But now it stopped working a week later, for some reason. Perhaps Malwarebytes pegs OpenCandy, and I removed that. I tried a reinstall but not working. I'll mark this thread as solved. Thanks again.

I had the same experiences, and tried, and went on to "HaoZip". It is in the store and free. behaves very much like WinZip. The only minor downside is the title, which is in Chinese characters.

The thing to watch out for are RAR archives, and they change the format regularly, I was using WinRAR 3. something, and suddenly I could not open some new RARs - I had to update to version 5.x

The thing I like about WinRAR is that you can open an ISO image and extract it with just one Drag and Drop.

2345好压 means “..Good Pressure”.

I pause briefly to contemplate a nefarious/ironic foreshadowing of global financial gamesmanship, but other than that, I generally succumb to the better angels of our nature... that is until the install included like 7 different apps by default – checksums and such – so I chickened out – spooked. Who knows what all is being installed?

Why the @*#$&# did PeaZip stop working?

I'm glad I waited a while before sending them my standard $10 for free apps I want to support. (I suspect they get more value out the fact that my confirmed name/address rides along with the donation...)

I've been cranking down on services and security, and have made a hundred tweaks. It may be my fault.

WinRAR 64-bit is $30... The download page does not specifically say “Windows 8” [..looking for reasons not to pony up]

TBD

My copy of WinZip works just fine on Windows 8.1. (and Windows 8 before that) I have a paid version.

All mine are pre v.17 versions: WinZip Feature History - WinZip Computing :: Knowledgebase (<---see table at bottom of page)

Win8fait said:

All mine are pre v.17 versions: WinZip Feature History - WinZip Computing :: Knowledgebase (<---see table at bottom of page)

Click to expand...

Ok. Those aren't supported in Windows 8. I had the same problem with lots of other software too, not just Winzip. Cost me a lot of $$ and effort to upgrade everything to work on the W8 platform.

I've been using 7zip for years (win xp, win 7 and now win 8). It works very nicely, is open-source which in my book is a plus. and provides many more features than the built-in zip, including support for a LOT of archives (including but not limited to zip, rar, cab, exe, iso), great context menu (I never open 7zip directly), password protection and 256-bit encryption. And I find the 7z format to be usually better at compression than its competitors although when using max compression it's slower than the same in regular zip.

No problem using the 64 bit version either, and best of all it's free (including the libraries if you ever want to develop and integrate compression support in your programs).

+1 for 7-zip. I use the 64bit version on 8.1

We have a Winter!

Oh jeez. I forgot about my first post and 7-zip. I did some testing. Done. All my Windows machines are converted 64 & 32-bit (just in time before the snow. Ho-ho-ho.)

http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Thanks for your kindly (and knowledgeable) recommendations!

Edit:
One final note for posterity (for both Windows 8 & 7): after install I had to manually associate both file types below to the C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7zFM.exe program (FM stands for File Manager.) Just right-click on a file and “Open With” - then navigate to that .exe file - making sure the box is checked to do that every time.

- File.7z
- File.zip