Why do Zip/RAR files have a habit of corrupting?

[SE14man]

I have noticed on this computer that al ot of Zip RAR files corrupted.
When i extract files from them it says the file is corrupt.
Even on the one i created yesterday!

Why does it do this and how can it be avoided?

[guns1inger]

If this is happening regularly then I would be concerned about the state of your HDD and just how long you have until it fails. While I do, from time to time, find zip/rar files corrupt after downloading, I have never had one go from being OK to corrupt once created or downloaded.

Is this happening to other types of files ?
When did you last defrag ?
When did you last do a surface scan (thorough test option in Scandisk) ?

[SE14man]

What tools would i do a surface scan with?
Defragged yesterday using Diskeeper.
No it only seems to happen with Zip and RAR and yeah its usually after i download them but sometimes when ive created them!

I have foun with some hard disks that have corrupted files on them even doing scans it logs no bad sectors, what is a bit of software that tells me the bad sectors properly?
What else can cause files to become corrupt?
It's really confusing i feel like i in a big knot because even scanniong this drive no bad sectors are find and yet still compressed files are corrupted, it makes no sense to me!


Thanks for ya help!

Mart.

[guns1inger]

Some Virii can corrupt files while trying to write themselves into them.

You could give this a try for a surface scan and to look at the SMART status of your drives.

edit : my bad - forgot the link http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2006.01.22-HDDScan/

[SE14man]

What did u want me to try mate?

[AlanHK]

I have noticed on this computer that al ot of Zip RAR files corrupted.
When i extract files from them it says the file is corrupt.
Even on the one i created yesterday!

Why does it do this and how can it be avoided?

If you try to extract from an archive with a password, if your password is wrong you might get that.

Note that with RAR files you can create them with a recovery record which lets you restore a damaged file. But that's meant for damage in transmission; if a file goes bad on your hard disk, you probably have a hard disk failing.

Back up now!

[Soopafresh]

Back up your important data if there's any chance your drive might be dying. It's also possible your zip utility might be corrupted or too old. Uninstall it, download the latest version, then reinstall it. I like 7Zip as a free app, and Winrar is great as a commercial app. Give it a shot.