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since a week I get corrupted winrar files

I tried to find an answer of this in some older threads but I couldn't so here it is,

I download a lot of games and movie files. Never had a problem unpacking them in winrar but since a week almost 90% of the movies/games I want to unpack give errors. Most of the time it says that 6 or more crc or rar files are corrupted. It's really bugging me because I never had a problem before. Sometimes just an occasional error, but now on almost every movie/game I download.

I use winrar 3.42 which seems to be the latest version. I even tried different rar versions etc. but the problem remains the same.

Is there maybe a simple explanation about it. If I am correct it's advised to always use the latest winrar version. I am pretty sure 3.42 is the latest version (can't find a newer version anywhere) and it really is only since a week that all the files I download seem to have corrupted rar-files, so I figured it's maybe something else that is obvious but that I don't understand or missed.

Hope anyone can help me with this.

this has nothing to do with the version of winrar you use, its all about the source you download from

for instance if its off newsgroups then its a completion issue on your news server

perhaps you get your stuff off mIRC in wich case i think its pretty self explanatory

__________________
"As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster." -- Henry Hill, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1955.

It probably is the source of the files that is causing the problems. But if you are grabbing stuff from different locations then it strarts sounding like a possible ram issue... an easy test without booting into a ram diagnostic is try packing up an iso in winrar and test it for errors. if there arent any then youve eliminated it.... but if you do have errors then you may wanna run a ram diagnostic (http://www.memtest86.com/#download0).

If, after all is said and done, you cant get good error free files to finsh these rls'...dont panic... ...yet.

If you are dealing with movies and the files are complete then chances are good that it will have a recovery record that you can use to fix them. read how in:
WinRAR help topics/WinRAR interface/File and Archive Management Commands/Repair archive

If your files are sans recovery record(but are complete) you dont have to give up hope just yet... you can always try checking the "keep broken files" box on the Exraction Path and Options menu when you use the Extract To button within winrar or the Extract Files item in the context menu when you right click on the archive.
There are no garuantees that files extracted like this will work but many times they do...it just depends on the extent of the damage to the archive.
I hope it all works out for ya

Thanks guys,

I download from different sources and I also did a memory test. Doesn't help a single bit. Still I have a weird kind of solution...

Instead of unpacking an IMG file or cue/bin file with winrar I now unpack it with WinAce. It still gives errors, but now I can open the IMG/Cue file while WinAce is unpacking. I open it with a VLC player. After WinAce is done unpacking (with the so called errors) it auto closes, but because the IMG file is open in the VLC player the file remains on my computer. And as in a miracle the file (sofar) always worked great. This goes for BIN/Cue files aswell as IMG files.

So I can watch/burn my stuff. Although it's a solution I still don't get why I always get rar-errors...

Oh well, thanks for the help anyway guys Much appreciated.

Have you grabbed a copy of QuickSFV and verified/checksummed what you're downloading? if your archive has an .sfv file it's worth a look.

__________________
Statistically... 9 out of 10 people actually enjoy gang rape.

sfv checker is a must and quicksfv is my fave...its nice and...well...quick

there is definately something wrong though...perhaps your connection is having problems...you may wanna go to dslreports.com and check out their connection tests. Or it may be you HDD, there are as many diagnostic apps for hard drives as there are brands, so check your HDD brand's site for their diagnostic tool.
Of course these are just suggestions on where to START. To really troubleshoot your system and zero in on the problem will most likely be a rather long and tedious proccess(unless you get lucky of course=) and is way beyond the scope of this thread if not the forum...

It sounds like you found a work around but it also sounds like youre going the long way around to do what winrar will do if you check the "keep broken files" box...but whatever works for you.
You didnt mention if you checked for a recovery record either. that can save you some headaches.
one more idea...if you are using an "altered" version of winrar then it may have been done badly...it happens...

good luck.

quote:

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Originally posted by Neversoft
Have you grabbed a copy of QuickSFV and verified/checksummed what you're downloading? if your archive has an .sfv file it's worth a look.

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