Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ddeubel]

I'm new to the torrent and downloading thing. Lately when downloading, I have seen many, many .rar files. I can't open them once I've downloaded them.

What exactly are they? And can I somehow convert them once I've downloaded them, so I can play them on WMP or RealPlayer of DivX???

Thanks, sorry for my ignorance..

DD

[ejmlab]

Grab winrar from rarlabs.com

If it's multiple numbered (.001, .002,...)rar files in one directory right-click on the first file and choose "extract here" from the winrar options. (

This should give you a usuable file (ie. .avi etc.)

Cheers

[mindmetoo]

Translation of the above: .rar is a compression format like .zip. (I think zip ultimately uses a patented compression scheme.) You can break large files into multiple .rar files. Install a program like WinRAR. After that, right click on the first file and you'll get an option to "extract here". WinRAR will do the rest.

[ddeubel]

Thank you both. I hadn't the faintest clue and it seems so obvious now..........

Now atleast I can access those files, which seem to download so much faster. Just "unrared" Boondock Saints. Awesome flic. So stunned I missed this one through all my galavanting over the globe. A real gem and full of entertainment value.

Thx.

DD

[ejmlab]

Sorry about the abbreviated response. I was just about to head out the door. But MMT did a good job filling in the blanks.

Cheers

[the saint]

on the same note... why sometimes does the downloaded file set consist of up to 30 seemingly identical .rar files which are all the same size and contain the identical same thing? Surely you only need one of these...

[ejmlab]

I'm not exactly sure why some archives are split among multiple files. However, even though the contents appear the same they are actually pieces of a whole. In the old days of "sneaker net" files were split to volumes in order for the individual volumes to fit onto floppy discs. The same can hold true for multiple compact discs or dvd's. In practice I come across alot of split archives that don't seem to have any rationale (often in the 14 meg per volume range). Perhaps this has something to do with the way network packages are formed (or their efficiency) in bit torrent. Maybe someone with more expertise on P2P can answer that one.

The method to extract multiple .rars into one file is to right click on the first archive and select the option "extract here". This will rebuild all of the component pieces into a workable file.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

[wormholes101]

The 14.3MB size is a release scene 'standard' except for music which is released as MP3.

A related link here
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Warez

By the way, one can click on any of the rar files and then extract. It does not need to be the first one. You can even select the directory in which the rar files are stored and extract.

[ejmlab]

Thanks wormholes. I often wondered about that 14.3 meg size. For the life of me I couldn't figure out a media type that was that size. One of these long term nagging questions. Thanks again.

Cheers