Review: ZipItFree compresses files tightly, doesn't make you tighten your belt

Compression software ZipItFree doesn't just make files smaller, it makes its interface smaller. This handy freebie lets you roll up its interface into its top bar, so you can minimize the screen space it occupies without closing it entirely. When you need ZipItFree again, you just click the button and the interface drops down again, just like a set of window blinds. It's a small design touch that proves quite useful.

Unfortunately, the same thought didn't go into the software's default steel skin, which is not pleasing to the eye. Luckily, it's easy to change the design. I'd suggest either the Vista or Windows 7 design options, both of which make ZipItFree far easier on the eyes.

Aside from the one design horror, ZipItFree checks all the right boxes. It features strong encryption, support for 15 compression formats, and, like PeaZip, the ability to split up the file into multiple chunks of a set size for easier burning or emailing. For example, it can make an exact size to fit onto a 700MB CD disk or a 4GB DVD disk. You can also attach comments to an archive to remind yourself what's in it.

ZipItFree performed very fast on my 30MBtest  folder, coming close to its promised maximum 40 percent reduction and compressing the folder down to 20MB.

However, watch out for the extra software that ZipItFree tries to make you install. Just make sure to pay attention and uncheck the right boxes, and you'll be fine.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Expatriate Scotsman now living in Wurzburg, Germany, freelance writer, frustrated future bestselling author, obsessed bibliophile. Other interests include trying to understand The Architect in the Matrix movies, decrypting codes and ciphers, and trying to persuade my landlord and my wife to let me have a Highland Cow for a pet.
More by Mark O'Neill

From PC World. Electronics product reviews and advice for best reference

Review: Hamster Free Zip Archiver 2.0 compresses files in a snap

Hamster Free Zip Archiver comes across as cute and cuddly, thanks to its nicely designed user interface and a bouncy GIF animation. And once you start using it, you can almost hear a whirring hamster wheel. It's fast.

The Hamster website claims that it takes advantage of multi-core computing to go faster. That claim held up when I tested Hamster on a new Windows 8 PC Quad-Core. The company claims it's faster than its competitors on older machines, too.

Thanks to its drag and drop interface, it's easy to use, too. To create a compressed file, you simply drag and drop the files you want to include onto HFZA main screen. Hamster tells you the folder's current size and asks you to choose between the ZIP and 7Z formats. Choose your file format (ZIP is faster, as it was when using 7-Zip), whether or not you want to split the file up, and whether or not you want to lock the file. You then press "compress," and Hamster does its job.

Hamster's actual compression results were less impressive: It reduced my folder to only 26MB, so there is no extra advantage, file size-wise. But, like PeaZip, Hamster offers the ability to split compressed files. To send an email, you can split the file in two as long as the recipient also has Hamster ready and waiting to put the file back together again.

You can add a password to lock the archive, but no actual encryption is promised.

Note: The Download button takes you to to the vendor's website, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Expatriate Scotsman now living in Wurzburg, Germany, freelance writer, frustrated future bestselling author, obsessed bibliophile. Other interests include trying to understand The Architect in the Matrix movies, decrypting codes and ciphers, and trying to persuade my landlord and my wife to let me have a Highland Cow for a pet.
More by Mark O'Neill

From PC World. Electronics product reviews and advice for best reference