Can't open RAR files

danyjr · 23 Oct 2018 at 12:17

Now this a strange situation.

I seem to have a problem with extracting some (I'd say 70%) of RAR files I download from the internet. I have tried different software (WinRAR/7-zip/FreeArc) to no avail.

With WinRAR I get the error "The archive is either in unknown format or damaged"
With 7-zip I get the error "Can not open file as archive".
With FreeArc I get the error "ERROR: File isn't archive or this archive is corrupt: archive signature not found at the end of archive. Please recover it using 'r' command or use -tp- option to ignore Recovery Record"

I understand some RAR files can be corrupted during download but this is not the case as I have tried opening the same RAR file on another PC and it extracts absolutely fine. The problem seems to be exclusive to my PC and I can't figure what is wrong. Maybe something in my registry?

Running Windows 10.

something daft already!! · 23 Oct 2018 at 12:19

I had this once when I had issues with my memory in my PC. It was corrupting the files. Turned out to be a dodgy ram stick. Maybe you could try removing any overclocks if you have them and see if that helps.

danyjr · 24 Oct 2018 at 09:05

I've run a Memtest but that one didn't seem to find anything.

Badfish · 24 Oct 2018 at 09:55

Did you reinstall WinRAR with the latest version? Older versions can have issues with files compressed with newer versions.

rhysduck · 24 Oct 2018 at 10:00

Have you tried portable versions of 7zip?

danyjr · 24 Oct 2018 at 15:05

Badfish said:
Did you reinstall WinRAR with the latest version? Older versions can have issues with files compressed with newer versions.

This worked! Thanks.

Strange given that 7zip wasn't working but now it is too, after installing the latest WinRAR. Perhaps some faulty DLL files on Windows were updated after this installation?

Stoner81 · 26 Oct 2018 at 12:58

WinRAR added RAR5 format some time ago so newer files will automatically use this new method which is what was causing the issue.

Stoner81.

bledd · 26 Oct 2018 at 13:05

something daft already!! said:
I had this once when I had issues with my memory in my PC. It was corrupting the files. Turned out to be a dodgy ram stick. Maybe you could try removing any overclocks if you have them and see if that helps.

Was going to suggest this.

It's odd how resiliant Windows can be to faulty ram. A bad ram stick is often highlighted by running a large 7za compression job. The PC will often fail and restart during these jobs if it's bad ram.

Personally, I just have 7zip installed, never had an issue.

something daft already!! · 26 Oct 2018 at 13:34

bledd said:
Was going to suggest this.

It's odd how resiliant Windows can be to faulty ram. A bad ram stick is often highlighted by running a large 7za compression job. The PC will often fail and restart during these jobs if it's bad ram.

Personally, I just have 7zip installed, never had an issue.

It may even have been you who helped me with mine, it was when Vista was first released. So 2006ish. I had a total nightmare with it when I upgraded from XP.

bledd · 26 Oct 2018 at 14:18

Going off topic a bit, but the thread is solved so hey how.. on a desktop machine I tend to format of it's had faulty ram. Can cause no end of unresolvable issues.