In my previous article "Please Use Legitimate Compression Software", I addressed common decompression issues. Recently, I've received numerous complaints claiming the passwords for my shared archives are incorrect and files can't be extracted - some even accusing me of sharing fake resources.
Initially, I dismissed these claims since I personally compress each archive and verify extraction before uploading. With thousands of successful downloads, isolated complaints seemed implausible. But persistent reports made me investigate a specific case:
User's failed extraction attempt
"Incorrect password" prompt
Hands-On Verification
To validate these claims, I downloaded one of my own archives on a Mac (my Windows system was down):
- Installed 360 Zip from its official site
- Attempted extraction triggered invasive ads:
- Extraction failed with "wrong password" error
Switching to 7-Zip (recommended in my previous article) successfully extracted the files.
Why Users Choose 360 Zip
Surveying user groups revealed three key reasons:
- Pre-installed with 360 security suites (common in China)
- No complex setup like 7-Zip's context menu configuration
- No paid upgrades unlike Bandizip
Critical Technical Flaws
Despite its convenience, 360 Zip has fundamental limitations:
- Aggressive ad injections
- Lacks proprietary compression algorithms (UI wrapper only)
Incomplete 7z format support - fails to handle:
- Multi-volume archives
- AES-256 encrypted files
- Solid compression blocks
Practical Solutions
If you must keep 360 Zip:
- Install 7-Zip/Bandizip as secondary tools
- Right-click → "Extract with 7-Zip" when encountering errors
If you insist on exclusively using 360 Zip:
My resources may remain "incompatible" with your workflow.
Regarding switching my compression tools? Go to hell, 360.