UPX-iT

UPX-iT is a small, yet reliable utility designed as a GUI for the already popular executable packer UPX. By providing an interface for UPX’s functionality, it becomes a more user-friendly approach for users who have a hard time working with command line applications.

In order to understand how it works, a short summary of what UPX does is more than welcomed. It is a console application designed to compress executable files at an excellent ratio, as well as to achieve lightning fast decompression.

However, since it runs from command line, an approach that poses somewhat of a drawback for some users, it is being used properly only by advanced users. As a consequence, several tools have been rolled out, in an attempt to provide a GUI for the famous packer.

One of them is UPX-iT, an easy-to-use program that covers the functionality of the original UPX. On the downside, the latest version seems to be using a very outdated edition of UPX. This could result in functionality discrepancies, since UPX itself receives updated on a regular basis.

This drawback put aside, it seems that UPX-iT carries out its jobs properly, for the time being. The list of supported input formats comprises the following: EXE, DLL, SYS, COM, OCX, DPL, BPL, SCR, ACM and AX, with an option to unpack the executables, while also compressing them.

Other highlights include adjusting the compression level, overlay options, context menu integration, force compression, as well as testing files when the process is done.

On an ending note, UPX-iT could pose a serious threat to its competitors, if updates were issued on a regular basis. However, in the current state of development, it fails to make it to the list of top UPX GUI applications.