Rar files are compressed archives that allow us to store more than one file or folder in each archive. They are very versatile and practical since they facilitate storage or sharing of files and folders. They compress the included files reducing their size. Rar Files are quite similar to Zip files but they use much better compression technology and they are a perfect space saving and organising method. The name rar comes from their creator, the developer Eugene Roshal, who was the first who introduced this compression method.

There are numerous ways to open rar files today. The most common way to extract rar files is to use extraction programs that can be found online. Some of them are free and some other are shareware. Win.rar is the most known and popular program online, although it is shareware.

The other easy way to open rar files is to download one of the free programs available. 7 zip is a program that works in all PCs and all Windows operation systems. This program features new capabilities that are quite impressive when it comes to extraction and decompression.

Izarc is also a program that is used for rar files. It is a perfect extracting and compressing tool. Tugzip is also quite popular today; this software enables virus scanning and can create self extracting archives. Zip Genius can also support more than twenty compressed archives formats.

Except for these known extraction programs there are numerous other programs that can help you open rar files: quick zip, Extract now and Fil Zip are just a few of them. No matter what you choose though, your files can be manually or automatically associated with the program; you can extract rar files adding them to the program list or just right clicking on the files you want to extract.

You can also extract rar files online, as there as some extraction programs that require no installation. Openrar is one of these websites that allow you to open your rar files easily, or compress your files in one of the available archive formats.