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Beginning the Use of WinRar
version 1.0 December 2002


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Step By Step
Viewing a Partial Download Of Rars
Advanced Instruction Link
The Tools





By way of introduction, there is only one goal in this tutorial, and that is to take you from not being able to deal with Rar files to the point where you can at least extract a file. There is always more to learn, and the last section will have other, much better places to learn them


the First Steps

  1. Download and install the current version of WinRar from Rarsoft.com.

  2. Once installed then Open WinRar

  3. Locate the directory where you have stored ALL the rar files for the post you want and double click on it.

  4. Highlight the first file in the archive - in this case it's Moviethisone.rar, but it also could have been Moviethisone.Part001.Rar. Double click on it. You will see

if it's a standard movie file, or
if the archive is another storage format - in this case the "bin" "cue" format is used for burning directly to a CD what ever content is within the Bin file. If you wish to extract the information - be it a movie or data, directly to your hard drive, you'll need to use a tool like Vcdgear or ISObuster to complete the extraction.

  5. To extract the file, simply click on the "Extract to" button

Or click on COMMANDS and then EXTRACT TO THE SPECIFIED FOLDER

  6. Either action will cause a new window to pop up:

Note the destination path, which is by default a "New" folder by the name of the archive which will be placed directly under the directory where the rars are. Also note the highlighted "Keep Broken files". If your archive has bad or missing rars, or you wish to preview the movie, checking this box will allow you a down and dirty way of extracting a partial file (read about it here).

  7. Next are two possible Warning windows you could see if for some reason you don't have all the files or if the files are corrupt:

    Warning Window One: The first of the two messages above shows "corrupt authenticity information", and is the sign of a sloppy poster, or at least rar archiver. It is not by itself fatal, but would indicate that the ability of WinRar to "test" the validity of the archive is in question.
    The second message states that the "r01" file is corrupt. Big problem. If Par files were posted for this set now is the time to use SmartPar and recover the bad files (see "how to Par"). Just shut down Win Rar and repeat the above sets after you've completed the repair with SmartPar.

    Warning Window Two: This message may be your first clue that you have yet not gotten all of the rar files you need. Use either SmartPar to recover the missing files if possible, or the SFV files to determine what files you're missing; and return to WinRar when you have collected or repaired them.

 8. If all went well, you'll next see that a new directory was created just under the one you stored your files in:

And within this directory you'll find, with luck, the file you hoped to have
And it would now be most appropriate to sit back and watch


Viewing a Movie when you don't have (or may not Want to download) all the Rars
Three ways to view an incomplete Rar Archive:

  Way One - in WinRar

This comes from SweetCore, and really is a handy way to do it
  1. UnRar the typical way via WinRAR, but with the Keep Broken Files box checked (see above)
  2. once the program gives you the incomplete error message, before hitting okay or cancel, go into the folder the program has created.
  3. The video should be there.
If you have the first parts it should play up to the first missing chunk, and if it's a mpg it might play past it.

  Way Two - in Dos

(thanks British Bulldog)
You will need to have Winrar to use this. As long as you have the first (.RAR) section and any consecutive sections - .r00, .r01, .r02, etc from a DOS shell you can assemble all consecutive sections and STILL SAVE the mpeg file.
  1. Place a copy of Rar.exe into the directory with the rar parts you do have, up to the "break" in the chain.
  2. From a DOS prompt type: rar e -kb moviename-~1   .The e command extracts the file, and the -kb paramater says to keep broken files

Some problems encountered and how he found to correct:
  1. Since you are in DOS you need to do a DIR to make sure how the RAR file is named.
  2. I found that the filenames for the different sections vary slightly (nymph_-_XXX.rnn, Nymph--XXX.rnn, etc.) I had to go back and rename some of them so they would be consistent with the chain. You'll recognize this when you get the error message "file Nymph???? fails CRC check. If you have that section go back and make sure it has the same name RAR.EXE is looking for.
 

  Way Three - misc
Or, I've noticed using WinACE that it'll unRAR incomplete RARs. Whether or not the video's viewable depends what kind of video it is. If it's an mpeg then you're set, if it's an avi you may have to open
it using VirtualDub.

Good luck!



'The Tools

WinRAR

VCD Gear (dat to mpg)

ISObuster
Quick Sfv for Windows


Places to Go for Advanced Learning about Rae


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