RAR files are compressed files that permit us to store more than one file or directory in each archive. RAR archives are very useful and handy since they allow for storage or sharing of files and directories. The archives compact the input data reducing the amount of space it takes on the hard disk. RAR archives are quite analogous to Zip files but they use much improved archiving technology and they are a perfect diskspace preservation and organisation technique. The file format was named by the developer E. Roshal, who who invented this compression algorithm.
There are many approaches to unzip RAR archives today. The most practical way to open these archives is to use extraction tools that can be downloaded on the Interner. Many of them are free and some other are commercial. For example, the most well-known program online is WinRar, though it is unfortunately commercial.
The easiest way to open .rar files is to use one of the .rar extractor available online. Case in point - 7-zip is an application that works on all PCs and all Windows operation systems. This application includes multiple functions that are pretty impressive when it comes to archive extraction.
Except for these popular extraction programs there are numerous other tools that can help you deal with RAR files. You can find out more about some of them in the free RAR extractor software list. Regardless of which one you choose though, your files can usually be set to automatically open in that application; this will let you extract and archive them to the program menu or just by right-clicking on the archives you wish to uncompress.
You can also unzip RAR files online, as there exist some decompression programs that require no installation. Openrar is one of these websites that let you open your archives with no fuss, or archive your files in one of the supported archive formats.