This release fixes an issue with Windows Explorer freezing on some systems when PowerZip 7.2 was installed.

Improved user interface
The user interface has been upgraded to provide Office 2007-style look and feel. The Welcome dialog box and the Settings dialog box have been modernized.

Windows Vista Support
PowerZip has been updated for compatibility with Microsoft Windows Vista.

Empty folders zipping and unzipping
PowerZip now includes empty folders when zipping and unzipping (Zip files only).

Improved large file support
This release fixes a number of issues related to zipping and unzipping of large files.

Support for 64-bit Windows (Windows XP x64)
PowerZip now provides shell extensions / integration with Windows Explorer (Zip / Unzip items in the Windows Explorer right-click menu) under the 64-bit version of Windows XP.

Zip File Splitting
PowerZip now fully supports split Zip files. Split Zip files allow you to create a set of several smaller Zip files instead of one large Zip file. This is useful when sending large attachments by e-mail or distributing large files over the Web.

Better Compression
PowerZip 7.0 offers two new compression levels, providing higher compression than is normally available in Zip files. Please note that files compressed with the new compression levels may not be unzipped by older versions of PowerZip and by other Zip programs.

Strong Encryption
Ability to password-protect files inside a Zip archive (encryption) has a long been a feature provided by PowerZip. Unfortunately, traditional Zip encryption is very weak as is evidenced by the multitude of Zip password recovery programs. Such programs allow password-protected files (encrypted with standard Zip encryption method) to be recovered without the knowledge of the password.

PowerZip 7.0, while still offering traditional Zip encryption for compatibility, also provides 128-bit and 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption. AES provides a high level of data security and allows you to password-protect files with confidence, knowing that it will be extremely difficult for anybody who doesn't know the password to recover the files. Please note that files protected with AES encryption may not be unzipped by older versions of PowerZip and by other Zip programs.

To make encrypting files quicker, PowerZip 7 now adds an "Encrypt" item directly to the Windows Explorer right-click menu. This allows you to encrypt files directly from Windows Explorer without having to specify any compression settings. Only the password is prompted for and the files are then compressed and encrypted using default settings.

Better support for Unix formats
With growing popularity of Linux, it becomes increasingly common for Windows users to exchange archives with Unix systems. To address this demand, PowerZip 7 offers enhanced support for archive formats popular under Unix. PowerZip can now extract BZip2 files (.bz2) and can also create .tar.bz2 files. PowerZip also offers the ability to open .tar.gz and .tar.bz2 files directly. Strictly speaking a .tar.gz file is .tar file inside a .gz archive and this is how previous versions of PowerZip displayed them. To view files inside a .tar.gz archive, one needed to first open the .tar.gz file, then open the .tar file inside it. PowerZip 7 now makes it possible to open .tar.gz (and tar.bz2) files and see their contents in one go. By default, when a .tar.gz or a .tar.bz2 file is opened, the contents of the .tar file are displayed directly. This feature can be turned off.

Miscellaneous features
PowerZip 7 also provides the following new features and enhancements:

• Renaming files inside a Zip file - you can now rename files inside a Zip file after it's been created. This action is available via the right-click menu in PowerZip.
• File name auto-completion - PowerZip now provides IntelliSense-style filename auto-completion in the Destination step of the Extraction Wizard and New Archive step of the Compression Wizard.
• Windows XP Themed controls in Self-Extractor - PowerZip Self-Extractor now has Windows XP themed look when run under Windows XP. Standard look is displayed when the self-extractor is run under older versions of Windows.
• Exclusion list in Compression Wizard - the Compression Wizard now allows you to specify a list of filters of files to be excluded. This is particularly useful for backup where you may wish to compress all files in a folder except for certain file types (e.g. temporary files).
• Open Folder option in Extraction Wizard - the Extraction Wizard now has the option to open the destination folder (where unzipped file are placed) in Windows Explorer once unzipping is complete.
• New way to unzip - PowerZip 7 offers a quick new way to unzip directly in Windows Explorer. Simply right-drag (i.e. drag using the right mouse button instead of the left mouse button) an archive over the destination folder, release the mouse button and choose Unzip from the menu that appears.
• Easier Updates - PowerZip now has a Check for Updates items in the Help menu (under PowerZip on the Web) which allows you to quickly check whether a newer version of PowerZip is available.

File Splitting / Multi-Part Cab Support
Cab is a Microsoft archive format that has long been supported by PowerZip. PowerZip can now create multi-part (split) Cab files. This means you can now create several smaller archives instead of a single large archive, when needed. A common application is to overcome size limitations on e-mail attachments imposed by some ISPs. If your (or your e-mail recipient's) ISP only allows attachment that are no larger than a certain size and you need to send a file that, even when compressed, is larger the limit, you can now use PowerZip to create a set of Cab archives (each smaller than the attachment limit) containing your file. Another application is to create very large archives than span multiple CDs.

To use this feature, create a Cab archive and check the multi-part option in the Options step of the Compression Wizard. You can also split up an individual file by right-clicking on it in Windows Explorer (My Computer) and choosing split.

Support For Creating Tar/Gz Files
Tar/Gz are archive formats that are very common under Unix. PowerZip has long been able to unzip Tar and Gz files. v6.5 now lets you create a Tar/Gz archive. The archive is created in one step, there is no need to first create a Tar archive and then apply Gzip. With the growing popularity of Linux, this feature allows for easier collaboration and interoperability with Linux and other Unix systems.

Miscellaneous Improvements

• "Open in PowerZip" menu item is now displayed in the Windows Explorer / My Computer right-click menu when you right-click on a self-extracting archive. Unzip options are also displayed.
• PowerZip now allows you to change the folder used to store temporary files. PowerZip uses the standard Windows temporary folder by default, however, this may need to be changed if you don't have enough disk space on the drive containing the Windows temp folder. The option is accessible via the System tab of the Setting dialog box.
• PowerZip now display an error message when attempting to unzip a WinZip split zip file instead of prompting for the first disk. WinZip split Zip files are a non-standard extension to the official Zip standard that is unsupported by PowerZip; PowerZip uses a standard format - multi-part Cab - for the split archive feature
• The Product Key dialog box now includes additional instructions and displays more verbose error messages to make entering the Product Key easier
• Dragging an executable program into the PowerZip when an archive is open now zips the file instead of attempting to open it as a self-extracting archive (the latter being a far less common operation).

Bug Fixes

• PowerZip 6.5 now correctly sets the correct modification date when extracting Cab archives; v6.0 sometimes set the date incorrectly
• Miscellaneous small fixes
  

Improved Wizards
The Extraction and Compression Wizards have been re-designed to make them even easier to use while reducing the number of clicks needed to perform common tasks:

• The wizards now have a Finish button on every page. Once the minimum required information has been provided, you can press Finish and skip over the remaining steps of the wizard
• Wizards now feature explanation tooltips. Simply point your mouse to a control you would like to know more about, and a tooltip will popup explaining the purpose of the control
• The Extraction Wizard now allows for unzipping an archive without having to open it first
• The Extraction Wizard now allows for multiple archives to be extracted in one go
• The Compression Wizard now lets you tick both files and folders you wish to compress directly in the wizard window. It is no longer necessary to click on Add File(s) or Add Folder buttons
• The progress bar in the Compression and Extraction wizards now operates smoother than in v5.2

Improved User Interface

• PowerZip's toolbar buttons now include a short text description
• The new Zip and Unzip buttons allow you to either start the Compression and Extraction Wizards normally or click on the arrow and select one of the options, skipping a screen
• The Open button now has an arrow which display the list of recently used archives
• The toolbar now includes the E-mail button making it easier to send archives via E-mail
• A number of buttons have been removed from the toolbar, making it less cluttered
• Keyboard shortcuts were added for all menu items

Improved Welcome Dialog

The Welcome Dialog box, introduced in PowerZip 5.2 has been improved in PowerZip 6 to make it easier for novice users to get started with PowerZip:

• The Welcome dialog now has a Common Tasks tab which allows for most commonly used tasks (zipping, unzipping and opening an archive) to be started directly from the Welcome box
• The Welcome box nows has links to the PowerZip User Guide and the Getting Started section of the User Guide
• The Getting Started tab has been updated to reflect the changes to the user interface

Better Integration with Windows Explorer

• The integration with Windows Explorer can now be turned on and off via the Settings dialog box
• The Settings dialog box also has options relating to the integration with Windows Explorer
• Zip and E-mail feature has been added, allowing for one-click operation

Support for Macros

PowerZip now supports Macro Files, making it easy to automate common tasks such as backup.

Miscellaneous Improvements

PowerZip 6 includes an array of smaller improvements. Some of these are listed below:

• In "Show Folders" view, PowerZip now returns to the same subfolder after a delete or a zip operation
• In "Show Folders" view, the current path within the archive is now shown in the title bar
• When sorting items, folders are now listed separately from files
• PowerZip now has an optional Path column, allowing for path names to be shown separately from folder names (applicable only when Show Folders view is turned off)

PowerZip 5.2 brings many improvements and fixes a number of bugs found in v5.01. The changes and bug fixes are as follows:

Extraction Wizard
Number of clicks required to extract files was reduced by 1. The wizard's appearance was updated.

Compression Wizard
Compressing files by adding them to an existing archive was separated from compressing files by creating a new archive. The number of clicks required to compress files was reduced by 2. A bug present in v5.01 that caused the Add File function of the Compression Wizard to fail when too many files were selected was fixed. The wizard's appearance was updated.

Self-Extractor
The maximum length of the message that can be shown by the Self-Extractor was increased from 256 characters to 1600 characters. Further error handling has been added to the Self-Extractor to warn the user of possible non-fatal errors during the extraction process. A bug present in v5.01 that made it impossible to create Self-Extracting archive directly in Windows Explorer was fixed. PowerZip Self-Extractor icon was updated. The Self-Extractor Wizard was replaced with Self-extracting Archive Properties. Three new options were added to the self-extractor - the option of making the "Unzip To:" box read-only, the option of specifying the type of message box the self-extractor is to show at start up (OK, Yes/No or OK/Cancel), and the option of specifying the icon for the start-up message. The ability to convert an existing Zip file into a self-extracting archive was added. The appearance of the self-extractor was updated.

Miscellaneous
A bug present in v5.01 that caused the Shell Extensions to ask for the registration number even after it was entered into PowerZip was fixed. PowerZip Help was updated. PowerZip's icon was updated. The menu bar and the toolbar were updated to make them completely customizable. The bug that caused PowerZip to try to open (rather than compress) .rtf and .avi files when they were dropped into the PowerZip window was fixed. The bug that caused PowerZip's "View/Edit" feature to fail when attempting to view a file with a space in the file name was fixed.

New features:

• Built-in read-only support for ACE archives
• Improved performance in compressing and extracting folders
• Updated documentation

Major bugs fixed:

• PowerZip failed to delete and extract certain folders in the archives
• Multi-disk spanning options were erroneously enabled for adding files to non-empty zip archives
• PowerZip Shell Extensions sometimes caused Windows Explorer to crash
• Execute a command feature of the PowerZip Self-Extractor did not work
• The progress bar was not updated correctly when extracting certain types of archives

New features:

• New user interface with improved ease and convenience of use
• Improved performance – our tests have shown that v5.0 opens zip files up to 94% faster than v4.53
• Two-way drag and drop – drop files onto Windows Explorer to extract them
• Improved View/Edit Update feature – you can edit extracted files using the View/Edit button and update the archive when you’re finished
• Support for creation of CAB files (built-in).
• HA support (via external program – HA.EXE)
• Improved customizability
• Folder view List, Large Icons and Small Icons views
• Ability to add folders to archives without using wildcards
• Improved View feature – you can now configure PowerZip to use as many viewers as you like. Clicking the View button allows you to select the viewer. Double-clicking on a file launches the default viewer
• Support for Windows 98-style user interface, i.e. point to select, single-click to activate (this feature is disabled by default. You can enable it through the Settings dialog box)
• A new option of whether or not to extract folders in PowerZip Self-Extractor
• PowerZip Self-Extractor can now extract encrypted zip files, prompting for password
• v5.0 remembers not one but 10 most recently used extract folders
• Ability to extract all files that match a specified wildcard
• Ability to show file type in the report view
• Improved shell extensions – you can now extract all types of archives via Windows Explorer
• Ability to set zip file comments
• Improved context-sensitive online help
• Improved archive testing
• Ability to delete the open archive directly from PowerZip
• Ability to sort items in descending order

Major bugs fixed:

• PowerZip failed to compress hidden and system files

Major bugs fixed:

• Multi-disk zip support failed on some systems
• PowerZip asked to insert the last disk twice when extracting encrypted multi-disk zip files

Major bugs fixed:

• PowerZip sometimes crashed when the Settings dialog was displayed under Windows 95 OSR1
• Select All didn't work
• Self-Extractor sometimes failed to extract valid archives
• PowerZip failed to start on some machines giving an error message ("shrinker.err")
• Shell Extensions didn't correctly compress files with more than one dot in the filename
• PowerZip failed to report some zip compression/extraction error messages
• PowerZip didn't show the hourglass cursor when opening archives
• The toolbar wasn't drawn correctly on systems with MFC 6.x

New features:

• Much smaller self-extractor
• Extraction progress bar in PowerZip Self-Extractor
• Built-in support for multi-disk zip files
• Updated extract dialog box with built-in tree (you no longer need to click Browse)
• Updated status bar with two panes
• Updated Add Files dialog box
• Updated progress dialog box
• Built-in support for listing contents of Arj archives
• "Save path relative to" feature

Major bugs fixed:

• %d variable in PowerZip Self-Extractor didn't expand correctly on Windows NT machines
• %p variable didn't expand correctly on localized versions of Windows
• PowerZip locked files after compressing them
• PowerZip Shell Extensions didn't handle Unicode filenames on NTFS volumes correctly
• PowerZip sometimes crashed when the Settings dialog was displayed under Windows 95 OSR1