The current generation of disks may run in the terabytes, but many users like to keep their files as compact as possible – especially if we also want to forward them via the internet. Windows does have a zip function built in, but Bandizip is clearly the more flexible archivist.
Bandizip
price
Free
Language
Dutch
OS
Windows Vista and above
Website
en.bandisoft.com/bandizip
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Explorer integration
- Fast packer
- Many formats
- User friendly
- Negatives
- Advertisement
There are three flavors of Bandizip, of which only the Standard edition is free. The other two cost money (from $ 30) and offer a few extras such as a password manager, a repair of corrupt archive files and the lack of ads. If you can do without these extras, then read on.
Configure
Bandizip can handle no less than forty archive formats. You also decide which of these formats (for example zip, rar, 7z, arj, lzh and tar) you want to link the program to by default. In this same configuration window you can also set some other options. For example, you choose which archiving and extracting options should be available in the Explorer context menu or which information the “viewer” from Bandizip should show you.
Packing and unpacking
The Bandizip program window looks surprisingly fresh and contains only two buttons: to open a file archive and to create a new archive. The latter can also be done by dragging files and / or folders to the program window.
You can select from a dozen archive formats, including a handy self-extracting format. Furthermore, Bandizip allows you to split archives into adjustable size partial files, to set an optimal compression level and to attach a password to the archive. By on Advanced clicking will give you additional options, for example to set the compression and encryption method. Another plus: some tests indicated that Bandizip (with default settings) almost always works faster than the Windows own zip function.
If you then open an archive, you can of course extract it, but you can also add or remove certain files from it. A test function tells you if the archive file is OK.
Conclusion
If you are not satisfied with the packing and unpacking functions of Windows itself, then Bandizip can certainly be considered as an external archivist. The interface is very accessible and the tool can handle many different archive formats.
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