Technical Support Frequently Asked Questions

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FAQ's about Stuffit Expander

What are stuffed files and archives ?
What files need to be decompressed ?
What can StuffIt Expander decompress ?
Decompressing a file with StuffIt Expander
Decompressing multi-part files from Usenet newsgroups
For more information

Q. What are stuffed files and archives ?

A. A stuffed file is a file that has been specially encoded so that more informations is "stuffed" in a smaller space.

An archive is a file in which many different files are stuffed, so that a single file may be kept, as a backup, or as an easier package to copy to disk or download.

For example, when I make a backup of the files for a manual, I create an archive of all the files, then make a copy of the archive. This does two things. One, the files take up less space on my hard drive when they are stuffed. Also, instead of having to backup each file separately, I backup the archive.

Q. What files need to be decompressed ?

A. Any compressed Macintosh files without the .sea extension on the file name.

Files that end in ".sea" are "self extracting archives," meaning you do not need to use a program to extract them. To extract them, you double-click on their icon.

For example, a file called "ExampleProgram.sea" is a self-expanding archive, and is extracted by double-clicking on its icon.

A file called "ExampleProgram.hqx" is not self-expanding, and needs to be "unstuffed" with StuffIt Expander. The next section lists the file extensions for different kinds of compression.

Q. What can Stuffit Expander decompress ?

A. StuffIt Expander can uncompress these kinds of files:

FILE TYPEEXTENSION
StuffIt Archives.sit
Compact Pro.cpt
BinHex.hqx
MacBinary.bin

These Files cannot be uncompressed with StuffIt Expander without the use of additional software. (For more information about the additional software, please see the StuffIt Expander READ ME file.)

FILE TYPEEXTENSION
Apple Link.pkg
ZIP.zip
ARC.arc
gzip.gz
Unix Compress.Z
UUencoded.uu

There is special additional software available that enables StuffIt Expander to process these formats; for more information, read the file "StuffIt Expander Read Me".

Stuffit Expander also cannot decompress StuffIt SpaceSaver files, and cannot unencrypt files.

Q. Decompressing a file with StuffIt Expander ?

A. There are two ways to expand a file with StuffIt Expander:

  1. - Drag and drop the compressed file icon onto the StuffIt Expander icon

    Note: This only works with System 7.0 or higher.

  2. - Open the compressed file from within StuffIt Expander.

Using drag and drop

  1. Drag and drop the compressed file icon onto the StuffIt Expander icon.
  2. StuffIt Expander decompresses the file and saves it onto your hard drive.

Opening the file from within StuffIt Expander

  1. Double-click on the StuffIt Expander icon to open StuffIt Expander.
  2. Choose Expand from the File menu. (Yes, this is the only menu.)
  3. Find the file you want to expand.
  4. Select the file you want to expand, and click the Expand button.
  5. StuffIt Expander decompresses the file and saves it onto your hard drive.

Q. Decompressing multi-part files from Usenet newsgroups ?

A. First, the different parts of the the file must be manually connected together. Some newsreaders (for example, the commercial version of Newswatcher) automatically connect the parts together for you.

If you do not have a newsreader that automatically connects the parts:

  1. Save the file parts to your hard drive.
  2. Using a text editor or word processor, copy and paste the separate files into another file

    Make sure you paste them into the new file in order.

    Make sure that you remove any non-encoded material from the beginning and end of each file. For example, you must remove the news headers in that tell who sent it and from where.

  3. Save the file.
  4. Use one of the methods described above to decode the file you just created.

Q. For more information ?

A. For more information about StuffIt Expander, read the README file and any other documentation that came with the program.