Software Help

PowerArchiver

PowerArchiver is a simple tool to pack a single or group of files into one file. This file can also be password protected, so it's very useful for sending confidential information, or putting confidential information on a memory stick. The instructions below describe how to create a password protected archive and extract files from a password protected archive.

Note that it is not the archive (.zip) file which is protected, but the files within it. This means that a password is only required at the point when files are extracted.

PowerArchiver is installed on all standard University staff desktops/laptops and student PCs.

The most straightforward way to use this tool is to create a folder and copy all of the files you wish to protect into that folder, then use PowerArchiver to archive the whole folder. You’ll need to set a password; if sending the file to someone else, you should communicate this password to the recipient verbally. If the recipient is within the University, creating a zip file archive is the simplest option. If the recipient is external to the University, or you need to read the file on a non-University computer, software that will read a zip file is required. In this case, create an exe file as this won’t require any additional software.

Create a password protected ZIP archive to send internally
Create a password protected EXE archive to send externally
Extract files from an archive ZIP file
Extract files from an archive EXE file

Create a password protected ZIP archive to send internally

Put the files you want to send into a separate folder. This can be called what you like, e.g. archive.
Select Start > PowerArchiver
Then File > New Archive

Select the down arrow next to the Save in box and navigate to your My Documents folder. If you want to create a separate folder for storing your archive files, create it now. Enter a filename for your password protected archive, e.g. archive .

Then select Save.

Select Set Password. Choose a password that you will remember. If you are sending the file to someone else, this is the password that you’ll need to tell your recipient, so make it different to any other passwords that you use.
Enter the password and confirm it.
Then navigate to the folder where you stored the files to be archived. (You may need to select home on ‘prs-store ………' or U:\), which are other names for My Documents.

Now select Add.

A list of the files in the folder will be displayed:

You will notice that all of the files end with + . This indicates that they have been protected with a password. (You may need to widen the Name column to see this)

The archive file has now been created, so you can close PowerArchiver.

It will have been created with an extension of .zip, e.g. archive.zip.

Create a password protected EXE archive to send externally

A PowerArchiver exe file is a self extracting executable which is useful if you are sending files to people who may not have PowerArchiver or any other software that will ‘unzip’ the files.

Follow the instructions above to display the files to be archived.
Choose the Actions menu and select Make .EXE File .

Remove %temp% from the Default "Unzip To" Folder, so the field is blank. This makes it easier for the recipient to extract the files to a directory of their choice when they unzip the archive.

Select OK.

Select Yes if you want to test that the extraction works correctly.
Close PowerArchiver.

Note that you cannot send exe files directly within or outside the University. You need to change the file extension, e.g. to ex_ then ask your recipient to change the extension back again. There are more details on our page about email attachments.

Extract files from an archive ZIP file

If you have a password protected archived zip file, follow the instructions below to extract the files on a standard University computer.

Save the zip file in a folder in your My Documents folder.
Double-click on it to open it and display the list of files in the archive.

Then choose Extract from the File menu

Choose a folder in My Documents to extract the files into, creating a new folder if necessary.

Select Extract.
After selecting Extract you will be prompted to insert your password if one has been set. This should be supplied by the person who has sent you the zip file.

When you have entered the password the files in the archive will be extracted into the folder you specified.

Extract files from an archive EXE file

Save the EXE file in the folder in My Documents where you want to extract the files to.
Navigate to the file using My Computer or Windows Explorer.
Double click on the file to run it.

You will be prompted to enter a password if one has been set.
The files will then be extracted to the directory set when the executable was created. If this was to the current directory, the files will be extracted to the folder that you run the executable from. If it was to the %temp% directory, the files will be extracted to C:\Documents and Settings\in9999\Local Settings\temp.

Date: 29^th June 2009
Last reviewed: 3^rd February 2012