14 DAY TRIAL // For the beginner and average user, Windows already provides the necessary functionality for creating archives and extracting them. The more experienced, however, will never content themselves with this and will choose a more complex utility that has the necessary flexibility to handle compressed files in various ways.
PowerArchiver was designed with this type of user in mind and provides extensive functionality that goes way beyond the basic archiving actions.
The application is available in multiple editions, Standard ($22.95 / €19.95) and Professional ($31.45 / €28.75) being the two aimed at consumers. The price is not the only one making the difference between these editions, the list of supported features also does.
The more expensive version bundles in additional utilities, such as a plug-in for the Outlook email client, backup abilities, cloud management and encryption/decryption capabilities with support for OpenPGP, and disc burning abilities.
An even richer version exists, called PowerArchiver Toolbox and, apart from the features present in the Professional edition, it bundles in the ability to mount ISO files, the complete disc burner, an SFTP (secure FTP) client, and a premium email plugin.
There is one installer for all the versions, and the features are enabled according to the type of license purchased.
At the end of the installation process, the product provides a brief configuration wizard that lets you select between an advanced and a novice interface as well as make the file association settings.
The list of supported formats is extensive and includes popular extensions (ZIP, ZIPX, RAR, 7-ZIP) along with less common ones such as LHA, BH, and TAR (GZIPed and BZIPed). PowerArchiver Professional can also create ISO archives from the data you provide.
Cloud synchronization options are also available in the product, with support for services from Microsoft (SkyDrive and Azure), Google, Dropbox, Box and Amazon (S3).
Looks are pretty simple, all the tools and modules being available through a ribbon UI that can be collapsed for a better view of the unpackaged items.
To make things easier, the shell extension enables easy handling of the data (compressing, extracting, encrypting, uploading to a cloud service, burning to disc, or adding to a backup) straight from Windows Explorer.
From the main application window you can easily start a fresh data compression or extraction process as well as configure the connection to the desired cloud services.
With options for encryption, archive conversion batch compression, or extraction from multiple archives and creating self-extracting packages, the list of functions here shows a glimpse of the versatility and flexibility of the application.
Compressing data is just a matter of dragging and dropping the items to the application window or selecting them all and making your choice from the context menu.
The dialog box that follows provides a wide array of options that allow picking the compression format, method used for processing (deflate, LZMA, store) supported by the chosen package, splitting of the resulting bundle, and encryption type.
Securing your data through encryption is present via a standalone module in the application, which provides the possibility to lock items as a whole, in a single file or individually. Security can be enforced through OpenPGP keys as well.
An OpenPGP key handler is also available and, besides managing existent keys, it also allows generating new ones or revoking them.
The backup functionality is flexible enough to permit sending the data under compressed form to a cloud or FTP location as well as burn it to a CD/DVD or Blu-ray disc; you can also save it locally.
Just like in the case of any archive, there is the possibility to select a specific format, method, and compression level; furthermore, the application supports full, incremental, and differential jobs that can be scheduled to run automatically with a certain frequency. Password protection can be enforced with PK or AES encryption.
Although PowerArchiver Professional is not designed for the beginner user, working with it is not a tough job. It is properly configured by default and it also makes available a huge amount of settings for the more experienced users.
Choices range from personalizing the interface, defining the working folders, the options you want in the shell context menu, file format associations or the frequency for automatic checking for new updates.
The product comes with compression profiles for the variety of archive formats supported and offers the possibility to create a custom one.
A password manager enables you to use the same countersign multiple times. Password policies can impose a specific strength level by combining parameters such as the amount of characters and their type (lower/upper case, numeric and symbol).
Since the application requires storing data temporarily on the hard drive (for previewing, opening or editing archived data), a function for securely deleting the information comes in pretty handy; it relies on DoD (US Department of Defense) standards for the job can run up to seven overwrites to make sure the files are not recoverable.
The configuration panel may appear a bit daunting at a first glance, but a closer look reveals that everything is already pre-set and in most cases only minor adjustments need to be made.
The Good
It is highly flexible as far as customization is concerned and despite the large number of options available it is easy to use, even from Windows Explorer context menu.
There is support for OpenPGP encryption along with key management and signing capabilities.
The Bad
The Truth
However, the amount of options available and the customization possibilities are more than impressive. Beginner and seasoned users can work with it comfortably as the application offers a great set of options for both of them.
NOTE: We’re giving away a total of 20 licenses for PowerArchiver Professional 2013 in exchange for comments posted on the campaign announcement page (comments in the section below are not eligible for the campaign).
The opportunity expires on December 23, 16:00 UTC (8:00 PT) so make sure you post your lines by then and please provide a valid contact email address.
