Problem With Zipped files

delvin.friends

delvin.friends

Active Member
This problem has come up recently with me. When i open some zipped folders from within winzip or winrar, i cannot open certain executable files. WinRAR shows me a message saying the file cannot be executed. WinZIP shows me a message saying that it is unsafe to open, and whether i want to proceed. This just happens to some and only some executable (*.exe). Other files in the same zipped file work fine as heaven.

now i also tried another method. I uninstalled winzip and winrar and tried to open the zipped file normally, with windows. This time it says that the zipped folder is not a valid win32 application. what do i do?

after uninstalling winrar and winzip, to open zipped folders in windows the usual way, i opened up the Open Withdialog box and made the .zip file to open with
c:\windws\system32\zipfldr.dll

now that i have tried opening any other zipped folder, it shows the same message saying that this is not a valid win32 application. can anyone tell me what t do next.
 
Last edited:
Two things to check:
1) Is the download corrupt?
2) Is your PC infected?

Most likely its a corrupt download, that 'not a valid win32' message appears when the assembly code for an executable doesn't match a known Windows API.
 
Maybe the zipfldr.dll file is corrupt itself or needs to be reregistered...

But first, take CG's advice and scan the computer for infection.
 
If you want download HiJack This 2.0 and install it. Run it and copy and paste the results in a post here in Code Tags. I will then take a look at it for you and let you know if your PC is infected.
 
Nevermind my earlier post, I hadn't read the problem correctly.

Basically you've mis-registered the .zip extension with the wrong program.

Download the free http://www.7-zip.org/ and register it with .zip files.
 
Another thing worth mentioning...

You mentioned that you only had the issue with a select few of applications. You stated that you have tried multiple zip files. Are you trying to run the same problem executables from all zip files? If the above suggestions do not work, try running the problem executibles unzipped. Not all applications out there well run correctly if they are compressed.

Really, you shouldn't even need to use the tools mentioned above since Windows normally should allow you to view and execute the contents of zip folders. I really think it is an issue with either corrupted or infected files.
 
It's basically a two-part problem:
1) The original zip file was corrupted
2) By associating .zip with a DLL instead of an EXE, future zip files couldn't be opened either.
 
computer guru you were right. The problem is that i had originally got winrar, but wen i tried to extract certain files, it showed an error message and didnt save or open them. so i tried uninstalling winrar, but it removed my association for zipped folders and when i browsed to zipfldr.dll and tried to open with it the message came up. now i have reinstalled windows vist on my pc.

thanx for all of your helps.
 
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