14 replies to this topic

[carmel_andrews]

like it says on the tin....why is it that people that upload complete game roms for various systems, seem to prefer to 'password protect' what they've uploaded (be it via an emulation site like emuparadice or via a filesharing service like megaupload etc)

Can someone please tell me the logic behind it, what are the trying to protect the files from for god sake, if they don't to share their ginormous rom collections 7z'd/rar'd or zipped into a file then don't , to start sharing your collection and then uploading a password protected version of that file....where's the logic in it...or perhaps i am stoopid and anm clearly missing something

Anyway, here's a little tip for those that have to deal with those password protected zip/rar files

what ever you do, DO NOT copy/paste the password into the unzipper prgoram dialog box if it indeed asks you for a password, what you have to do (unfortunately) is actually physically type out (including any punctuation marks and case sensitive alphanumerics etc) the actual password into the password dialog box

The reason why the unzipper program doesn't like the copy/paste way of doing things is because these password protected files are 'case' and 'punctuation mark' sensitive and simply copying something over to a unzipper programs password dialog box, it would appear that the unzipper program can't determine whether the pasted password entered is in the correct case/format etc

And if i were you don't unzip password protected files with power archiver, reason being is that, that program will always remember the last password you entered into fo access that file that was password protected and won't ask for it again, whereas with 7Z and winrar, it always asks you for the password for that password protected file regardless how many times you accessed that file using 7z/Winrar (only way of getting PA to asking for that password again for that password protected file, apart from uninstalling/reinstalling the PA program is just delete all registration/registry enteries for power archiver/PA)

[theloon]

Probably to help keep the ROMz as their own release. If you have to type in www.leethakzroms.com and it came from www.doublestolenromz.net then you know it's not an original release.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Yeah it can definitely be a pain. As someone who deals with a lot of archive files, another thing that pisses me off, the way people archive. OK, don't put a folder into a folder into a folder and then archive it, just select the files and choose to zip it, rar it whatever. Don't even get me started on multiple archive formats within the same archive. You know, you open a bunch of .rar files only to get more .zip files then you open those to get more .rar files etc, etc, it really does not add that much to compression to do this!

[Phredreeke]

I think another reason is to make it harder for hosting services to verify that it's copyrighted material (is pitfall.bin Activision's Pitfall, or Joe Homebrew's Pit Fall?)

[Keatah]

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 2:51 PM, said:

Yeah it can definitely be a pain. As someone who deals with a lot of archive files, another thing that pisses me off, the way people archive. OK, don't put a folder into a folder into a folder and then archive it, just select the files and choose to zip it, rar it whatever. Don't even get me started on multiple archive formats within the same archive. You know, you open a bunch of .rar files only to get more .zip files then you open those to get more .rar files etc, etc, it really does not add that much to compression to do this!

It generally makes the files a bit bigger.

.RAR can compress .ZIP a little more.
And .7z can compress .RAR, a tiny bit more.

But after that. the files grow in size.

In this day and age of broadband with network/modem compression, there's no need to go beyond 1 single level of compression.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Keatah, on Sun Jul 3, 2011 3:53 AM, said:

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 2:51 PM, said:

Yeah it can definitely be a pain. As someone who deals with a lot of archive files, another thing that pisses me off, the way people archive. OK, don't put a folder into a folder into a folder and then archive it, just select the files and choose to zip it, rar it whatever. Don't even get me started on multiple archive formats within the same archive. You know, you open a bunch of .rar files only to get more .zip files then you open those to get more .rar files etc, etc, it really does not add that much to compression to do this!

It generally makes the files a bit bigger.

.RAR can compress .ZIP a little more.
And .7z can compress .RAR, a tiny bit more.

But after that. the files grow in size.

In this day and age of broadband with network/modem compression, there's no need to go beyond 1 single level of compression.

Oh I am aware of all that, but as you say at the end there is no need for it, it is more a hassle for the downloader than anything.

[S1500]

theloon, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 2:01 PM, said:

Probably to help keep the ROMz as their own release. If you have to type in www.leethakzroms.com and it came from www.doublestolenromz.net then you know it's not an original release.

No honor among thieves, huh?

[Omegamatrix]

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Fri Jul 1, 2011 2:51 PM, said:

Yeah it can definitely be a pain. As someone who deals with a lot of archive files, another thing that pisses me off, the way people archive. OK, don't put a folder into a folder into a folder and then archive it, just select the files and choose to zip it, rar it whatever. Don't even get me started on multiple archive formats within the same archive. You know, you open a bunch of .rar files only to get more .zip files then you open those to get more .rar files etc, etc, it really does not add that much to compression to do this!

I couldn't agree more. Especially when there are redundant folders within folders. Personal pet peeve of mine!

[frogstar_robot]

When I've encountered this, the link to the archive is usually a forum post with the password. So you have to have read that particular thread otherwise the download is useless. So it seems to be a way to (usually) share with a small number of people while avoiding any checks the download host is using.

[Necron99]

Passwords are definitely a nuisance, but usually can be fixed with a search where you downloaded it from or the website it originated from. I never download from a site that doesn't have a comment field, because I like to comment on what the password is/get the password/ask for the password.

What I hate the most, is the split .rar files that open in about 25-50 separate folders which each have a part file that needs to be all in the same folder in order to correctly decompress it. Usually this happens with much larger games or movies, but the tedious task of moving files one at a time really flips my lid

[NE146]

I think if the romsets you are getting are password protected, you're probably getting them from the wrong place.

[Keatah]

Necron99, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 6:00 PM, said:

What I hate the most, is the split .rar files that open in about 25-50 separate folders which each have a part file that needs to be all in the same folder in order to correctly decompress it. Usually this happens with much larger games or movies, but the tedious task of moving files one at a time really flips my lid

isn't there some kind of batching function?? Or decompress all folders into one folder like extract here..? I use winrar exclusively and love it.

Edited by Keatah, Fri Sep 2, 2011 9:17 PM.

[Necron99]

Keatah, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 8:37 PM, said:

Necron99, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 6:00 PM, said:

What I hate the most, is the split .rar files that open in about 25-50 separate folders which each have a part file that needs to be all in the same folder in order to correctly decompress it. Usually this happens with much larger games or movies, but the tedious task of moving files one at a time really flips my lid

isn't there some kind of batching function?? Or decompress all folders into one folder like extract here..? I use winrar exclusively and love it.

not sure about winrar having that function, I use 7zip myself, but most likely it's laziness on the the part of the up-loader for not organizing it better, probably just how the compression software they used set it up.

folders inside folders inside folders really don't have a purpose unless it's separating content.

anyways, doesn't happen often.

[NE146]

Necron99, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 6:00 PM, said:

What I hate the most, is the split .rar files that open in about 25-50 separate folders which each have a part file that needs to be all in the same folder in order to correctly decompress it. Usually this happens with much larger games or movies, but the tedious task of moving files one at a time really flips my lid

In the terrabytes and terrabytes of rar files I've downloaded since the PSX days.. even today in the 9 - 36 gig xbox 360 games, to ps3 games to bluray rips, I can't say I've ever seen any that have done that. Where are you getting those from? Next time you see one post it here.. I'd like to see the stupidity of it.

[Necron99]

NE146, on Sat Sep 3, 2011 5:55 PM, said:

Necron99, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 6:00 PM, said:

What I hate the most, is the split .rar files that open in about 25-50 separate folders which each have a part file that needs to be all in the same folder in order to correctly decompress it. Usually this happens with much larger games or movies, but the tedious task of moving files one at a time really flips my lid

In the terrabytes and terrabytes of rar files I've downloaded since the PSX days.. even today in the 9 - 36 gig xbox 360 games, to ps3 games to bluray rips, I can't say I've ever seen any that have done that. Where are you getting those from? Next time you see one post it here.. I'd like to see the stupidity of it.

I couldn't tell you where I got them, Once it was a movie and I should've checked the file structure first (I always check this first). the other times it was part of a Dreamcast set of .CDI files, I had to search some unusual sites in order to find some of the euro/jap releases. and yes, It was stupid!