Why can't I copy or move files or folders into an existing .ZIP archive anymore (i.e., files or folders from OUTSIDE)? (laptops, desktop)
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I am a high-level computer techie type (for many decades now) . . . so I do know my stuff (hardware and software). And yet, whereas I used to be able to have a .zip archive (usually created with the open-source 7-Zip program) and copy or move files into said .zip archive from outside the .zip archive, I can seemingly never do so anymore. What the hell went wrong? I have 6 modern-day laptops + 1 desktop computer to try it on and it simply cannot be done anymore. What has changed? I try the latest version of 7-Zip and it won't work. Then I try the latest version of PeaZip (another open source archiving program) and it won't work. Then I try Windows' built-in "Compressed Folders" feature (i.e., Microsoft Windows' built-in equivalent operating system feature for creating or working with .zip archives) and it still doesn't work.
Can any of you still manage to successfully copy or move any files or folders into an existing zip archive (i.e., without having to UNzip the archive, copy or move the files or folders into it the resultant unzipped folder containing the files you want to put those new files or folders together with, and then re-creating a new .zip archive from scratch?
Using 7-Zip... I can open a zip file in the 7-Zip UI, and drag files in and out.
I can also drag a file directly into the .zip in Windows Explorer without opening the zip with any UI (since I have WinRAR installed, it handles the job).
Are you by chance running the zip app as an admin, or under different credentials of the folder owner?
Do you have a program listed as the default handler for Zip files?
The short technical answer is that the Zip format can be kinda flaky.
I use the Zip format occasionally to compress and archive data files for a project that I perform periodically. The files are usually about 10-50 small files, each less than 10 MB, and one large file, usually 650 MB or greater. I've found through trial and error that if I make a new Zip archive and copy the smaller files into the archive and then copy the larger file, the process is relatively quick; however, if I first copy the large file into the archive and then the smaller files, copying those smaller files takes much longer. Bottom line is that smaller-file-copy-first methodology is at least 10 times faster than larger-file-copy-first method. And I have no idea why this is so.
You may be running into the same sort of thing. From my experience, it appears that the Zip format becomes much more inefficient when it has to manage large content internally during the process of adding new content.
One more consideration - there is a 4 GB upper limit to the size of classic Zip formatted archive files. Might you be bumping up against this limit?
Using 7-Zip... I can open a zip file in the 7-Zip UI, and drag files in and out.
I can also drag a file directly into the .zip in Windows Explorer without opening the zip with any UI (since I have WinRAR installed, it handles the job).
Are you by chance running the zip app as an admin, or under different credentials of the folder owner?
Do you have a program listed as the default handler for Zip files?
I have always run 7-Zip as "Administrator" and 7-Zip was listed as the default handler for Zip files.
I noted that the so-called "stable" version of 7-Zip (presently version 9.20) hasn't been updated in 5 years per this writing. Yet PeaZip just updated 11 days ago and seems to have more frequently updates. I installed the latest PeaZip 5.60 (I'd had 5.41 installed) and changed my default handler for Zip files to PeaZip. It has the same issue (even when it seems like it is letting you copy or move a file or files or a folder or folders into an existing zip archive, it takes a very long time and, in the end, it either doesn't do it at all or else it only lets you copy or move files into the root or base folder in the archive but not into any of the sub-folders). And this is when working through its own program interface.
Outside of the program interface of 7-Zip or PeaZip, if I just try to copy or move files within the Windows Explorer interface (using Windows 8.1.2 Pro 64-bit), it nearly always results in the following error message (tried with copying the same files into multiple different existing archives as a test):
Compressed (zipped) Folders error: The Compressed (zipped) Folder is invalid or corrupted.
Yet if it is truly "invalid" or "corrupted" as the error message says, then why can I unzip the zip file and use its contents and, as well, re-zip the folder containing those same files and sub-folders to create a new zip archive?
Note that, for virtually all my zipped archives, I don't use any compression but instead just select "Store" for the "Compression Level".
I have always run 7-Zip as "Administrator" and 7-Zip was listed as the default handler for Zip files.
I noted that the so-called "stable" version of 7-Zip (presently version 9.20) hasn't been updated in 5 years per this writing. Yet PeaZip just updated 11 days ago and seems to have more frequently updates. I installed the latest PeaZip 5.60 (I'd had 5.41 installed) and changed my default handler for Zip files to PeaZip. It has the same issue (even when it seems like it is letting you copy or move a file or files or a folder or folders into an existing zip archive, it takes a very long time and, in the end, it either doesn't do it at all or else it only lets you copy or move files into the root or base folder in the archive but not into any of the sub-folders). And this is when working through its own program interface.
Outside of the program interface of 7-Zip or PeaZip, if I just try to copy or move files within the Windows Explorer interface (using Windows 8.1.2 Pro 64-bit), it nearly always results in the following error message (tried with copying the same files into multiple different existing archives as a test):
Compressed (zipped) Folders error: The Compressed (zipped) Folder is invalid or corrupted.
Yet if it is truly "invalid" or "corrupted" as the error message says, then why can I unzip the zip file and use its contents and, as well, re-zip the folder containing those same files and sub-folders to create a new zip archive?
Note that, for virtually all my zipped archives, I don't use any compression but instead just select "Store" for the "Compression Level".
I'm wondering if the admin issue is part of the problem.
I run Visual Studio in Admin mode, and if I launch a folder from within VS (resulting in an elevated copy of Windows Explorer), I can't use 7-Zip against the folder (these folders are within the "Users" folder structure).
I've also seen issues with zips created by our software running as admin, or running under the Network Services account, being modified by regular users.
I'd check the owner / permissions on these files, or create a new standard zip with a non elevated version of 7-zip, and see if anything changes (or try elevating Windows Explorer to try the other direction).
I just tried it with WinZip and grabbed an existing (huge) Zip and clicked the ADD FILES button. It told me "You cannot do that with this type of Zip file".
Tried a different tiny Zip. Worked fine.
Could it be a size issue?
The short technical answer is that the Zip format can be kinda flaky.
I use the Zip format occasionally to compress and archive data files for a project that I perform periodically. The files are usually about 10-50 small files, each less than 10 MB, and one large file, usually 650 MB or greater. I've found through trial and error that if I make a new Zip archive and copy the smaller files into the archive and then copy the larger file, the process is relatively quick; however, if I first copy the large file into the archive and then the smaller files, copying those smaller files takes much longer. Bottom line is that smaller-file-copy-first methodology is at least 10 times faster than larger-file-copy-first method. And I have no idea why this is so.
You may be running into the same sort of thing. From my experience, it appears that the Zip format becomes much more inefficient when it has to manage large content internally during the process of adding new content.
One more consideration - there is a 4 GB upper limit to the size of classic Zip formatted archive files. Might you be bumping up against this limit?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skunk Workz
I'm wondering if the admin issue is part of the problem.
I run Visual Studio in Admin mode, and if I launch a folder from within VS (resulting in an elevated copy of Windows Explorer), I can't use 7-Zip against the folder (these folders are within the "Users" folder structure).
I've also seen issues with zips created by our software running as admin, or running under the Network Services account, being modified by regular users.
I'd check the owner / permissions on these files, or create a new standard zip with a non elevated version of 7-zip, and see if anything changes (or try elevating Windows Explorer to try the other direction).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrine
I just tried it with WinZip and grabbed an existing (huge) Zip and clicked the ADD FILES button. It told me "You cannot do that with this type of Zip file".
Tried a different tiny Zip. Worked fine.
Could it be a size issue?
djmilf and Peregrine bring up the file size issue (whether the size of the existing zip archive or the size of what you want to copy or move into the existing zip archive.
Hmm, a 4GB size limit for zip archives? As a test, I tried copying various files into varied zip archives that were under 4GB using drag-and-drop copying via Windows Explorer (using Windows 8.1.2 Pro 64-bit) and it worked! Now I will try copying the exact same file(s) with an existing zip archive just under 4GB in size (e.g,. a 3.8GB archive) and then try copying the exact same file(s) with an existing zip archive over 4GB (e.g., 4.8 GB, 5.26GB) to see what happens and will report back to you.
If it is stiill a problem, I will try these steps running a someone other than the Administrator (as Skunk Workz brought up) to see if that is an impactful factor. One would think that being an Administrator allows you to do anything at all (or nearly so) without restrictions.
djmilf and Peregrine bring up the file size issue (whether the size of the existing zip archive or the size of what you want to copy or move into the existing zip archive.
Hmm, a 4GB size limit for zip archives? As a test, I tried copying various files into varied zip archives that were under 4GB using drag-and-drop copying via Windows Explorer (using Windows 8.1.2 Pro 64-bit) and it worked! Now I will try copying the exact same file(s) with an existing zip archive just under 4GB in size (e.g,. a 3.8GB archive) and then try copying the exact same file(s) with an existing zip archive over 4GB (e.g., 4.8 GB, 5.26GB) to see what happens and will report back to you.
If it is stiill a problem, I will try these steps running a someone other than the Administrator (as Skunk Workz brought up) to see if that is an impactful factor. One would think that being an Administrator allows you to do anything at all (or nearly so) without restrictions.
Well, I can copy files into an existing zip archive of anything under 4GB but, when I try with a 5.15GB zip archive, the same error message comes up as reported earlier. And I turned off "Run as administrator" and the same issue prevails. So it appears that the 4GB file size limit is the issue. Yet I could swear that various of my most commonly-used zip archives for storing my personal data have been over 4GB for a long time (e.g., 4.61GB, 10.7GB, 12.6GB) and I imagine that zip archiv es have had this limitation since the beginning of when they were invented. So why all-of-a-sudden is it NOW a problem issue to copy or move files into an existing zip archive that is equal to or greater than 4GB? Does it vary with what operating system one uses? I also have a MacBook Pro running Max OS X Yosemite + Windows 8.1 Pro. I should try this under Mac OS X to see if the issue prevails there as well.
What operating system and version number of the operating system do each of you use who are successful with copying or moving files into an existing zip archive? And is the operating system 32-bit or 64-bit? And successful using what archiving program? And do you succeed as well when the zip archive is 4GB or greater in size?
i think the limitation is for fat-32 filesystems. 2^32 = 4 billion addressable units.
would moving the files to an ext2,hpfs,ntfs,... filesystem work ?
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