Reviews of Universal Extractor

1. 
   felixml

   Reviewing 1.6 (Apr 13, 2009)

   good, but not as good as WinRAR
2. 
   SuzzyWoozy

   Reviewing 1.6 (Mar 25, 2009)

   Mandatory program on my computer, along with 7zip (see horsecharles'review below why).
   While 7zip simply extracts the content of the installer (if possible), the Universal Extractor seems to sanbox the installer run and get the files inside. I'm using 7zip as first choice or Universal Installer if the first don't work.
   
   What I would like to see is a cascading context menu option, putting 3+ new items on explorer's right click is not the best approach.
3. 
   Virtual_ManPL

   Reviewing 1.6 (Oct 25, 2008)

   Awesome... !!!
   
   Unpack almost every installer...
4. 
   horsecharles

   Reviewing 1.6 (Oct 22, 2008)

   One of my most useful programs... i use it, along with 7zip, to extract all kinds of file types.
   
   Up until this latest update, it used to be that both progs complemented each other / were able to handle types the other one couldn't.
   Universal Extractor thus merited more of a 4-4½ rating...but we gave it 5 because of its freeware status-- favorably comparing with payware like Power Archiver.
   However, as 7zip updated more and more, it pulled ahead to favored status.
   
   But now, with this much-needed & overdue latest release, Universal Extractor has caught up to 7zip.
   
   1.6 (10/17/2008):
   
   Added support for individual user preferences for better Vista support;
   by default, this is enabled for standalone, disabled for installed
   when enabled, UniExtract uses single .ini file as with previous version
   when disabled, individual prefs/history are saved to registry in HKCU
   this can be changed by modifying globalprefs setting in .ini file
   Added menu bar to main GUI;
   includes options to quit, edit preferences, and visit UniExtract website
   Added separate preferences GUI to provide easy access to all options;
   can be invoked through Edit menu or through '/prefs' argument
   Added support for DiscJuggler CDI CD-ROM images via cdirip.exe
   Added support for FEAD Optimizer packages (eg, Adobe Reader installers)
   Added support for LZMA compressed files via lzma
   Added support for LZX compressed files via unlzx
   Added support for Nero NRG CD-ROM images (data only) via nrg2iso
   Added support for Reflexive Arcade installer wrapper via RAIU
   Added support for RoboForm installers
   Added support for WIM (Windows Imaging Format) images via 7-Zip
   Added "Not an InstallShield installer" option to InstallShield method select
   dialog to force UniExtract to handle TrID InstallShield false positives
   Added components section to installer; makes installation of
   docs, languages, and certain (large) binaries optional
   Added SendTo icon option to installer
   Added internationalization support for decompressed ASPack and UPX files
   Added Croatian, Dutch, Hungarian, Portuguese, Romanian, Taiwanese, Turkish,
   and Valencian (Catalan) translations
   Added return codes to indicated status of extraction (actually added in 1.5):
   0 = successful exit or user-initiated cancel
   1 = supposedly supported file, but extraction failed
   2 = debug file is not writable, aborted
   3 = unknown executable - cannot be extracted
   4 = unknown filetype - cannot be extracted
   5 = invalid output directory specified
   Fixed bug that displayed debugging message box during Inno Setup extraction
   Fixed bug in InstallShield CAB file support; now properly extracts files
   with spaces in the filename
   Fixed support for (non-tar) gzip files
   Fixed support for Microsoft hotfixes (again)
   Fixed support for relative paths
   Fixed support for UNC paths
   Fixed missing Spanish language option during installation
   Removed support for Windows 9x due to new Unicode version of AutoIt;
   9x was never officially supported, but it will not even execute now
   Removed Adobe-specific report (now handled by generic FEAD support)
   Updated UniExtract to prompt user before executing files for extraction;
   can be disabled via warnexecute option
   Updated UniExtract to make ACE, KGB, Pea, and StuffIt support optional
   Updated UniExtract to read English.ini from root install directory
   Updated UniExtract to output debug files to %temp% by default
   Updated UniExtract to verify that debug file location can be written to;
   user's temp directory will be used if selected dir fails test
   Updated UniExtract to disable appendext option by default
   Updated UniExtract changelog to add notice of Vietnamese translation in 1.5
   Updated TrID detection of MS Self-Extracting CAB (Type 1) archives
   Updated TrID detection of Windows Installer (MSI) packages
   Updated TrID detection of Zip Self-Extracting archives
   Updated CD-ROM image support to bypass TrID detection and rely on extensions
   Updated Inno Setup support for increased detection reliability
   Updated Inno Setup support to extract all files, including renamed duplicates
   Updated UHARC support to detect and extract SFX files
   Updated Windows Install patch (.msp) to include pure 7-zip option
   Updated installer to use Start Menu icons page and include uninstall icon
   Updated installer language initialization code for simplicity
   Updated installer to require administrative privileges;
   non-admin users should use binary archive (portable) version,
   or use a copy installed by the system administrator
   Updated installer to require Windows NT-based systems; 9x will not work
   Updated installer to prevent association with CHM files under Vista
   Updated installer to support new /nowarnexecute paramater
   Updated installer to support reversed appendext default preference;
   now use /appendext to enable instead of /noappendext to disable
   Updated installer to add {app} in addition to {app}\bin to %PATH% if enabled;
   restores ability easily to call UniExtract.exe from command line
   Updated 7-Zip to 4.57
   Updated AutoIt to 3.2.10.0
   Updated innounp to 0.20
   Updated Inno Setup to 5.2.2
   Updated msi2xml to 2.2.1.957
   Updated Pea to 1.6 (cannot use newer version due to broken GUI controls)
   Updated UnRAR to 3.80
   Updated UPX to 3.03
5. 
   PSXp-ONE

   Reviewing 1.6 (Oct 22, 2008)

   Woohoo!! yes! yes! yes! another one of my favorite tools updated.
   
   Coover, I've never used Extract Now, but from what I could understand after a google search, I guess that just works as another archive extracting tool to which we already have plenty to choose from. However, Universal Extractor is different, I mean...you can pretty much extract all kinds of archives with this as well but the main reason I use this is because it allows me to extract files from installers (exe & msi) files without the need to install the program, why is that useful? because you can make SOME programs portable. In some cases it doesn't work but most of the time it does...I haven't tried this new version yet since I just found out it's been updated but I'm sure it's been improved! give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

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