File Extension ARC

File type: Compressed File Archive

About the ARC file type:

If Windows cannot find the appropriate program associated with .ARC files, then your registry may have errors. Check your Windows registry for errors (includes file association errors).

The standard compression format used by the Macintosh and MS-DOS Operating System platform is represented by the ARC file extension which became widely used during the late 1980s until the early part of the 1990s. Presently, this format still finds occasional usage in various compression activities wherein the market has predominantly been populated by newer formats that feature better compression algorithms. Essentially, the ARC file extension represents a lossless data compression format that produces archives based on the specifications established by SEA (System Enhancement Associates). This format was widely used by the BBS (Electronic Bulletin Board System) community which served as the precursor for newer social networking groups. ARC represents both the file extension format and the name of the compression application that virtually replaced the SQ and LU application used to produce LBR format archives. The LBR compression archive is the product of combining both the archive and the compression under one application.


Detailed information for file extension ARC

Category: Compressed Files
File format: Proprietary
Open with Windows: WinAce, WinZip 12 Pro, Acubix PicoZip, ConeXware PowerArchiver, Smith Micro Stuffit Deluxe
Open with Linux: arc
The ARC file extension functions as a container unit for multiple file compression unlike ZIP that does not store the whole directory tree. The format file played a major role in the evolution of open-source based compression algorithms. This file format is also used by numerous Internet archives which use their own version of the ARC format in saving multiple Web resource instances under a single compressed archive. The compression algorithm of the ARC file extension is also believed to have served as the foundation of the PKARC compression utility which was developed by Phil Katz Software (a member of the ARC development team). The ARC source code was made public in 1986 to allow for its subsequent porting to the UNIX Operating System as well as Atari ST by Howard Chu in 1987. Howard's version of the ARC compression format was the first to prove that a Huffman Squeeze performed on a LZW data can result in additional compression of files.