We’ve been using WinRAR / WinZip / 7-Zip and other archive manipulation software. Most of them free. MagicRAR is different, not just because you have to pay for it (Cost of software + yearly subscription) . But it could be well worth it.

Shell Namespace Extension Technology: So Easy it Feels Like Magic!
Find Smallest Archive: Benchmark Compression Algorithms
Designed for SSDs: Process Multiple Archives Simultaneously
Transparent Full Disk Compression: Full Live Access to Your Data
Intelligent “Extract to Subfolder” Skips Unneeded Folder Creation
Plug-In Extensible: Add Support for New Archive Types
Outlook Add-In: Transparent E-mail Attachment Compression	1
Browse Windows XP Mode Files: Navigate and Copy Files from Windows XP Mode Folders
VMware/Virtual PC Hard Disks: Browse Inside VMDK and VHD Files without Pre-Mounting
Unified 32-64 Bit Installer: Automatically Install the Correct Files for Your OS
Recursive Extract: Extract Multiple Nested Archives in a Single Pass

To the left is WinZip and to the extreme right WinRAR. As you can see it completely pwns them in terms of features. The one thing that interested me was the full disk encryption feature.

This is a screenshot on their website which tells us the extent to which the contents of a disk can be compressed and used normally at the same time.

Which is simply staggering. ( Almost a 3x increase in free space). Upon noticing that the files apparently compressed by MagicRAR have the Windows option of ‘Compress contents to save disk space’ enabled, I am a bit skeptical (that MagicRAR is doing anything here) . And then again, upon compressing a few folders on my main machine using the Windows feature, there was absolutely no difference in the space occupied. But I can say that MagicRAR works.

Another feature (which may not be as interesting) is the ability to browse inside VMDK and VHD files (used by Virtual machines)

And you can see the rest of the features in the table above. ‘Find smallest archive’ benchmarks different compression algorithms for the folder in question and will tell you which type of encryption will lead to the lowest space being occupied.

I installed the software on a Win7 VM, and just skipped whenever it asked my to enter a serial key. Which should obviously stop happening after 30 days or so.

Then I immediately turned to compressing the whole drive.

This is the amount of free space  I had before compression:
Drive Press has been enhanced in this version. If you recompress your drive with it again, you will gain even more free space, as described at http://www.magicrar.com/drive-press.html.

The process is fairly simple, start MagicRAR Drive Press, select the drive and keep on clicking next.

Then it will analyze the disk:

It was already looking promising and the final steps showed a 3GB increase in free space.

Then begins the compression process. Which takes quite some time, naturally.

And finally, this was the amount of space I gained.

For $29.95 + $9.95 each year. I think it is well worth it, taking into consideration other features of course.

As the creator of MagicRAR, Simon King,  points out in the comment, my favourite feature has been improved!

Drive Press has been enhanced in this version. If you recompress your drive with it again, you will gain even more free space, as described at http://www.magicrar.com/drive-press.html.

If I had access to my Windows box, I would test the feature immediately, but that will have to wait until my machine gets fixed.