Open ARC File
The ARC file extension is a compressed file format designed by System Enhancement Associated (SEA).
About file compression
Compression reduces the size of the file that contains one or more files or folders to make it easier to share files with other users.
The main purpose of compressing a file is to make it smaller so that it takes up less space on your computer.
By doing so you don't affect the content or structure of the file, you just reduce the space it takes up.
It is recommended to compress the files when:
- You need to save space: in this case, first compress the largest files that you don't use very often.
- You need to send multiple files by email.
Almost all compressed files have the ZIP extension, although they can sometimes have the RAR extension, depending on the application with which they were created.
However, on Linux or Unix-based operating systems, it is very common to see compressed and packaged files in formats such as:
- BZ2
- G.Z.
- ART
The ARC archive is a type of lossless archive.
The ARC format was created in the early 1980s, and was part of a general controversy that led, in principle, to what is now known as the 'open format'.
The ARC file extension is used, however, for various types of files that are similar (compressed) to files that are not related to each other.
For example:
- Internet Archive had its own ARC format to store multiple web resources in a single file.
- The FreeArc file compressor software also uses the ARC extension, but it uses a completely different file format.
- Nintendo uses an ARC format for multimedia resources, such as MIDI, speech or text samples, in GameCube and Wii games.
Software to open and work with an ARC file
There are several unofficial extractors for this type of ARC file.