Welcome to 7-Zip, the best archiving tool that you can find on the internet. If you need your files to be organized and placed on a single compressed file, 7zip can do that for you. You will never need any archiving tool again with the 7zip software.
WinZip has an option to compress files into the.zipx format, where it claims to have a higher compression rate than.zip and the rest of the competition. To use this, select and right-click the files you want to compress, then click to “WinZip - Add to Zip” the files. When WinZip opens, select “.Zipx” under “Compression Type”. Loading files into a new ZIP file with BiGZIP isn't as intuitive as some of the other programs in this list, but it does work if you need to make or extract a ZIP file. BiGZIP is a very outdated ZIP archiver and extractor, with the last supported Windows OS being Windows 98 (Mac and others are also supported).
In all our everyday computing needs, documents and media files pile up and clutter through time. It creates unwanted chaos, especially when you need a document from some years ago that you created and saved on your Windows PC or Mac with 7Zip. Sure, you can use your operating system’s native search function, but that is only good for a single or a few files. What will help you organize those files is the 7zip archiving tool.
What Is 7-Zip?
The 7-Zip archiving tool is the open-source software created by Igor Pavlov back in 1999. This is to address the problem of keeping multiple files organized in one place. Also, archiving lessens the files’ size without compromising the files’ entire integrity.
7-Zip, as mentioned, is an archiving tool. You can use 7-Zip to create a cabinet of similar files that will help you organize everything. The best thing about file compression is that you lessen the size of the file or files that you archived. This means you will have even more free space for other new and bigger files. The 7zip archiving tool can also be set to group files in one specific archive and protect them by encryption or password. This is very much useful and helpful, especially when sending sensitive data through a network.
What It Can Do
Compress Files
7-zip’s compression ratio is really high. Whether you want a single file or a group of files to be compressed, 7zip can do that for you in different archiving and strong compression settings that you desire. It’s the best of all compression software options you’ll come across.
File Manager
7zip supports a graphical user interface on Windows OS. That means you can use this app to access all your drives, folders, and files within its user-interface. It has a built-in file manager so you can navigate through all your directories.
Supports Multiple-core CPU Threading
Did you know that 7zip is also used for measuring CPU clock speed in terms of multi-core performance? The 7zip software can utilize multi-core on any CPU, both mobile desktop versions, to provide faster and efficient file processing and archiving.
Versatile
7zip’s native file extension is reportedly much better than the traditional ZIP file extension when it comes to keeping the archived files’ integrity intact. It was also hailed as the much better choice in terms of encryption and file security.
Independent Tool
Compared to other file compression tools, the 7zip can pretty much do it all. It can create self-extracting single volume archives and open .EXE files as archives for allowing of decompression of data within the entire installable program setup.
.7Z File Extension
7zip’s native file extension is reportedly much better than the traditional ZIP file extension when it comes to keeping the archived files’ integrity intact. It was also hailed as the much better choice in terms of encryption and file security.
Better Encryption
The 7zip, especially with its native .7z file extension, can provide a 256-bit AES cipher that can help secure your file in case of compromise and data breach.
Command-line Interface
For non-Windows users, the 7zip supports Linux’s command-line execution to manipulate, compress, and decompress files on a different platform that supports this software.
Supported Archiving Formats
7-Zip supports many file compression formats. Its native archive format is 7Z which is represented by a .7z file extension. While 7zip alone can create various archiving formats such as ZIP, RAR, 7Z, Gzip, bzip2, xz, tar, and WIM, it can unpack a lot more different file compression formats. Here’s a list that you can use as a reference: APM, ARJ, CHM, Cpio, DEB, FLV, JAR, LHA/LZH, LZMA, MSLZ, Office Open XML, Onepkg, RAR, RPM, Smzip, SWF, XAR, Z archives, CramFS, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, MBR, NTFS, SquashFS, UDF, VHD disk images, NSIS or LZMA, some MSI files, Some Microsoft CAB (LZX compression).
To give you a broader view of what 7zip can actually do and why it is useful for your everyday office-based needs or even home-based tasks, we have listed some of its major features. These features, as you will find, are very much the basic fundamental uses of 7zip.
Is it Safe?
Due to its less popular reception and late arrival to the scene, the 7zip is sometimes mistaken as some form of malware. This is natural for those less acquainted users. But the fact of the matter is, 7zip is the safest and most useful tool compared to other popular archiving tools.
In fact, the 7zip software is used by some IT professionals and tech individuals as a manual tool for extracting, identifying, and deleting some types of malware and computer viruses. Unlike the better-known WinRAR, which has some serious vulnerabilities for most malware, the 7zip has no known Windows virus that can defeat it.
While its interface may look outdated and too simplified for most people’s taste, it makes up for its use on most archiving, compression, and decompression tasks. So if your question about 7zip and its safety still stands, let us be the one to assure that it is safe by any means and angle possible.
The only reason that we see 7zip being not safe software is if you downloaded it from an unofficial source. We all know that anyone can rename a file or any software and brand it as 7zip. To ensure that you are using the original and safer version of 7zip, kindly get your installer from a trusted source, such as from this site or 7zip’s official website. www.7zip.org.
Use 7-Zip for All Your Archiving Needs
If you regularly deal with all sorts of files, do not just use a folder to organize them. Folders are easily hacked and accessed by any person, even the non-techy ones. To be more safe and secure, use 7Zip to organize your files and make them encrypted using your own preferred password. Plus, you get to save more hard drive spaces the more you use them.
We highly recommend using 7Zip in your everyday use. Choosing this archiving tool as your primary cabinet or folder in your computing machine makes a lot of difference, especially in the long run.
We Are Here to Help!
If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions that you want to share with us, feel free to leave a message in the comment section. We would love to answer all your questions and interact with all of you to share useful information for a positive community. Rest assured that we will be watching the comment section area for any of your inputs.
7zipCAB (or Cabinet) is an archive file format for Microsoft Windows that supports lossless data compression and embedded digital certificates used for maintaining archive integrity. Cabinet files have .cab file name extensions and are recognized by their first 4 bytes MSCF. Cabinet files were known originally as Diamond files.
CAB file is a compressed archive which supports DEFLATE , Quantum, and LZX compression. CAB files are used by windows installation engines such as Setup API, device installer and advpack.
CAB files typically contain drivers, system files and other Windows components. The installation engine extracts these files for use in the set up of various software and hardware.
For a number of years, Microsoft has used .cab files to compress software that was distributed on disks. Originally, these files were used to minimize the number of floppy disks shipped with a product. Today, .cab files are used to reduce the file size and the associated download time for Web content that is found on the Internet or on corporate intranet servers.
One file in the cabinet is typically an information (.inf) file, which provides further installation information. The .inf file may refer to files in the .cab as well as to files at other URLs.
Each file compressed in a .cab file is stored completely within a single folder. A .cab file may contain one or more folders or portions of a folder. So, even if a compressed file does not fit in one .cab file, it is placed in one folder that spans multiple .cab files. Such a series of .cab files form a set. Each .cab file contains name information for the logically adjacent .cab files.
A .cab file can be digitally signed like an ActiveX control. A digital signature provides accountability for software developers. The signature associates a software vendor's name with a given file. A signature can be applied to a .cab file using Authenticode technology.
Open/Extract CAB/Cabinet File on Windows
You can use Windows built-in System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe) to extract CAB/Cabinet file.
- Start -> Run
- Type: msconfig.exe
- Press Enter
- Click 'Expand File...' at tab General
- Click 'Browse From...' to choose CAB/Cabinet file
- Click 'Browse To...' to choose folder to save the restored file
- Click 'Expand'
- Done
Alternatively, You can install an all-in-one archive compression software. Easy 7-Zip opens/extracts CAB/Cabinet file easily on Windows. The Easy 7-Zip was developed based on 7-Zip. 7-Zip is a famous open source file archiver. The Easy 7-Zip is an easy-to-use version of 7-Zip. The open source freeware keeps all features of 7-Zip and adds a few useful features that makes the software more user-friendly.
Easy 7-Zip works on Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/2008/2003/XP/2000 (both 32-bit and 64-bit compatible).
- Free Download Easy 7-Zip
- Install Easy 7-Zip by step-by-step instructions
- The installation will associate CAB with Easy 7-Zip automatically
- Double-click on CAB file to open CAB/Cabinet file with Easy 7-Zip
- Alternatively, Right-click on CAB/Cabinet file on Windows Explorer
- Done
You will see files or folders within the CAB/Cabinet file then, click button Extract to extract the CAB/Cabinet file.
And then, choose Extract files..., Extract Here, or Extract to 'folder' to extract the CAB/Cabinet file.
Easy 7-Zip Download Links:
You can try other alternative freeware that opens/extracts CAB/Cabinet file on Windows. For example:
- PeaZip
- TUGZip
- B1 Free Archiver
- IZArc
- Universal Extractor
- Bandizip
- Bitser
Open/Extract CAB/Cabinet File on Mac
B1 Free Archiver opens/extracts CAB/Cabinet file on Mac. B1 Free Archiver is a free software for creating archive folder and extracting archive file. B1 Archiver works on all platforms - Windows, Linux, Mac and Android. The freeware supports most popular formats including CAB/Cabinet.
B1 Free Archiver is compatible with:
- Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks
- Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
- Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
- Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Alternative freeware that opens/extracts CAB/Cabinet file on Mac.
- Keka
- The Unarchiver
Open/Extract CAB/Cabinet File on Linux
You need to install cabextract. cabextract extracts files from Microsoft cabinet (.cab) archives or executable cabinet.
Install cabextract on CentOS and Fedora
$ wget http://www.cabextract.org.uk/cabextract-1.4.tar.gz $ tar -zxvf cabextract-1.4.tar.gz $ cd cabextract-1.4 $ ./configure $ make # make install |
Install cabextract on Debian and Ubuntu
# apt-get install cabextract |
Make Zip File On Mac
To extract/unpack a CAB file, type:
$ cabextract file.cab |
To extract CAB file to specified directory, type:
$ cabextract -d directory file.cab |
cabextract Options:
Make A Zip File Mac
- -v --version print version / list cabinet
- -h --help show this help page
- -l --list list contents of cabinet
- -t --test test cabinet integrity
- -q --quiet only print errors and warnings
- -L --lowercase make filenames lowercase
- -f --fix fix (some) corrupted cabinets
- -p --pipe pipe extracted files to stdout
- -s --single restrict search to cabs on the command line
- -F --filter extract only files that match the given pattern
- -d --directory extract all files to the given directory