I need help extracting .RAR files

[destin5440]

I downloaded a movie from a newsgroup in .rar format and when I try to extract I get this message:

"next volume is required... Insert a disk with this volume and press ok"

Then I get a WinRAR message that says: CRC failed in @@@.bin File is corrupt.

I have tried several files and I get the message on all of them so I am sure it is me and not a corrupt file. I am new at this so any help would be apprecited.

[ccs753]

Actually it is not you. When compressing a file in winrar u are given the option to set the file size for each volume in the archive. So an archive is comprised of many files (depending on the size of the originaal file and the size of each volume) i.e. a 185mb archive would contain 13 files each approx. 15,000kb in size (in addition to that there will probably be a .sfv file that conatins the archive info.) if you are getting the "need next volume in archive" msg., it is because you need that next .rar file. The packed data error (CRC error) is a different problem and can not easily be corrected beacuse it means that your file is corrupt and cannot be extracted. this can happen for a number of reasons but the most common are, either your download was not completed or was broken and resumed and the system messed up the resume, or the person who originally placed the file up wherever you got it from had some similar problem and the file is corrupt from your source. Also it is not neccessary to use winrar, winace will also open rar archives (winzip too i believe but could be wrong).

BTW most movies are at least 300 mb in size (feature length .avi)

Basically, you need to get a good copy of the file or archive from a reputable source. get to know the people you are getting files from that way you will know if there stuff is quality or garbage.
I deal with rar files on a daily basis (though not from newsgroups) and hope that this has helped you.

[Dave_man]

You dont have all the volumes of the rar file. they are usually split up into many because there is a limit of size you can have on each post. Look for *.rar, *.r01, *.r02 ect... when you have them all then you click on the *.rar one and you will be able to get the whole file out of the sequence of files. i hope this is a help.

[destin5440]

It is looking for r26 but the download stopped at r25??? Is there something I am missing??

[mikerios]

keep in mind also most of the newer posts are done in winrar 3.0, so you need winrar 3.0 to unrar, also most newer posts are yenc enoded rars as well so you need a current newreader that decodes yenc encoded rar files, also look for par sets as well to reconstruct partials sets or fix corrupt ones.

[destin5440]

I've got WinRAR3.0 and am using Forte' Agent as my newsreader...not sure yet how the PAR sets work...maybe that is my problem? I downloaded SmartPAR but it has no help and I don't know how to use it...there was a par set listed after the download so that must be the problem...can you give me any info on how to do the SmartPar or one like it?

Thanks

[mikerios]

unless it Agent 1.9 it will not decode anything in yenc, as for smart par it's easy, run smart par, open up the first *.par , *.p00 or *.p01 file, very much like winrar, it will then automatically check to make sure all the pars are intact, from there it will verify the rars, if any are missing ( up to a given point ) it will fill in for completely missing rar files. It will reconstruct them if all the pars are present ( even if you got most of the pars ) and any rar files that are short it will fixed them. Once all the files have been verified and intact then open and extract in winrar. I suggest getting a better newsreader like Newsbin Pro or what I use Newsgrabber Pro 3.033 instead of Agent as Agent is not too good when it comes to grabbing ISOs or very large posts and only 1.9 and newer supports Yenc encoding files which many peoiple now post.