What are RAR files?
 

What are RAR files? how can i download them?

RAR files are just data containers, they are used to store multiple files.

You download them just as you would download a photo, video or zipfile by saving them to your computer. You can unpack the file using WinRAR or a similar program. Once you have downloaded the program you can right click on the RAR file and click Extract.

It's also good practice to scan any RAR files with some kind of virus protection before extracting, especially if you're downloading a random RAR file that you found on Rapidshare. People tend to put virus's in them because it's simple to do.

Slick

so its basicly the same as a zip file. I got this now. i just have never heard of it before i came on here. thanks for the information

Yes, an alternative to zip. A great program for opening many types of compressed files is 7-Zip

hey
 

Slick any chance of making this or a similar description of rar files a sticky? Especially in the hardcore vid section. People are always asking me what a rar is and I see the difference in d/ls of multiple part rars, not everyone is d/ling all of the parts. Also someone today asked a poster to unpack a 8 vid rar and repost it for them. I believe this is not being aware of rars and how to use them, instead of members stuck using dial up connections. Whatever you decide thanks for making this best forums on the web!

Sure, I don't see a problem with it being stuck here.

Thanks,
Slick

I hate RAR
 

The problem with rar is that you have to download them to your computer.....not a great idea for everyone. I prefer to open and view the files not to download them. Then how often have you read " the hottest ever "only to find out it is not your cup of tea and you have just spent an hour downloading a ton of files that you don't want. Not being real computer savy myself I'm still not sure that any rar files that i've downloaded in the past have been deleted or not from my computer. So to be safe I just swear and skip over rar. They are a pain in that ass and I wish they were not allowed on OCC

I think you'll find that a lot of people will disagree with you there.

I generally prefer videoclips to be downloaded as they are, and not in a rar-file, but if the clip is too large for the host, then it's better with rar than things like HJ-Split if the file needs to be split anyway. I also prefer rar for multiple clips and for multiple images, as it makes it easier to catalogue and order the files.

So for the above reasons I think that rar-files are here to stay, and you'll just have to live with missing out on that. You also state that you're not really computer savvy, so you're probably not aware of the fact that even if you choose to view the clip directly instead of saving the file to the harddisk (I assume you choose "open file" instead of "save to harddisk" when prompted), the file is still saved to your harddisk, but in the folder for temporary internet files. It can stay there until deleted depending on your settings.

I think you lack of knowledge is your problem here.
When you open a file/picuture/video file, you still download it to your computer, and it is also stored on it too. That is normally temporary, but only if you are savvy enough to delete your temporary files. If you download a RAR file you should have selected where you downloaded it to, so you know clearly where it is and if you delete it.
I will ask you if you want to try a simple challenge; I have uploaded over 1100 pics of one woman, I've also posted some example pics to show examples of the contents and then the files compressed in RAR Files. Now you are telling me that you would prefer to download 1100 individual files than around 5 RAR or ZIP files? an hour to download 1100 individual pics, I think you would give up. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes, normally much less to get all the RAR files and with very little effort. A decent program to handle them as already suggested here and it is so easy. It is no different to having got used to various video codecs/container formats like avi/mp4/flv and the like. You seem to find jpeg no problem, but that is also new when compared to bmp/gif which were the formats of choice and jpeg was also resisted by a lot of users because it meant a change.
I will post some links to help you out if you would like some more help as it is a shame that you are missing so much available on OCC. you have a simple choice; do you grab this chance and gain the knowledge or you can just carry-on swearing at them in ignorance. That decision I leave up to you.

If you have a folder and you want to send it to your friends but you can't. That time rar software will help you.