What to do with a .rar or .r1,.r2,.r3 or .001,.002 file is one of the most common questions someone new to p2p will usually ask. This extraction and playback guide will help you to learn how to extract files from .rar archives and playback what you have extracted.
Getting Started
All you will need for this guide is a file downloaded in split .rar archives, WinRar and a computer.
You can download the latest stable version of WinRar here: WinRar
Download the files at your choice of torrent or p2p sites and have your client save them to a place you will easily find, such as a folder on your Desktop.
Be reminded that WinRar is shareware and although it will never expire, annoying ads will pop up whenever you open it.
What is a .rar?
A .rar file is a file format made for data compression and archiving which was developed by the Russian developer Eugene Roshal and whom gives the name to the format (Roshal ARchive).
.Rar are comparable to .zip and .ace which are older compression file formats.
Most people use WinRar to split files (such as movies) into smaller pieces so they can share it more easily over the internet without worrying about having a huge file get corrupted. WinRar also gives the option to password protect an archived file which many users use as well to keep their files safe.
In the world of torrents, almost all files you download will be in split, archived .rar files. The size of the split files vary but most are either 15 MB, 50 MB or 100 MB.
Settings
If you have not done so already, please download and install the latest WinRar and then open it.
First off, we are going to go into the Settings and tweak a bit. Hit the Integration tab and make sure all the associations are checked except for the ISO box. If it is checked, then uncheck it.
Go down to User Defined Extensions and add .001 to the field.
Now press OK and close out of the settings.
Extracting files from your .rar archives
Let's now find where we saved our split archived file we downloaded earlier and open up the folder. If you downloaded a 700 MB file you should have 47 small archived files. If you do not have a complete set, you will NOT be able to extract the file.
There are a few ways to extract the file, and I will go through them in detail starting with the most simple one.
Simple Way: This first method is very simple and when done, will extract your file into the same folder that your split .rar files are. Navigate to your folder and go to any .rar file (should look like a three colored book) and right click and then press Extract Here and wait until it is done extracting. There you go, your file is extracted and in an easy to find folder. That is the most simple method to extracting a file from .rar archives.
Slightly more advanced method
Navigate your way back to the folder with the split .rar files and double click on any of the .rar files. Right click on the file and press Extract to the specified folder or simply highlight the file and press Alt+E. Browse to where you want to file extracted to and then press Ok and let it process.
This method takes a few more mouse clicks, but allows you to save the file to a different folder.
Using your file
There can be all sorts of files that you are extracting but usually they are either .avi or ISO files.
For how to play .avis on your computer please read this link: How to play .avi
If you would like to convert your .avi into a DVD compliant format which you can then burn please use the following guide:
Convert .avi to DVD using ConvertXtoDVD
For ISO, there are a couple of things you can do. You can either watch the ISO on your computer or burn it to watch elsewhere such as a standalone DVD player.
To be able to watch an ISO on your computer, there is a very quick solution, Download VLC Media Player
Once you have installed and run VLC, all you need to do is drag and drop the ISO into VLC and enjoy.
If you want to burn your ISO image there are many ways to do that but here is one simple to follow guide: Burn using ImgBurn
Troubleshooting
WinRar is pretty straightforward but there is always the chance for troubles to arise. Hursty has written a very nice guide on troubleshooting WinRar and it should handle all problems that arise.
His guide is here: WinRar troubleshooting
That concludes this guide and I hope all of your .rar questions have been answered. ;-)
v1.0 -- 21th March, 2007, First version online (Dvdback23)
If you have not done so already, please download and install the latest WinRar and then open it.
Let's now find where we saved our split archived file we downloaded earlier and open up the folder. If you downloaded a 700 MB file you should have 47 small archived files. If you do not have a complete set, you will NOT be able to extract the file.
Navigate your way back to the folder with the split .rar files and double click on any of the .rar files. Right click on the file and press Extract to the specified folder or simply highlight the file and press Alt+E. Browse to where you want to file extracted to and then press Ok and let it process.
There can be all sorts of files that you are extracting but usually they are either .avi or ISO files.
