StuffIt Support
Welcome to StuffIt Expander 2011
StuffIt Expander is the most comprehensive tool for dealing with any compressed, segmented, and encoded files you encounter. StuffIt Expander offers support for over 30 formats. Click here for a complete list. StuffIt Expander 2011 includes support for expanding LZMA compressed files, 7-Zip archives, segmented Zip archives, as well as 'split' archives (a segmenting method sometimes applied to Zip and RAR archives).
If you imagine the Internet as a series of tubes, you can think of compressed, encoded and encrypted files as different packaging systems used to deliver files from one place to another. Generally, the purpose of these different packaging systems is to group related files together, and to make them smaller so they can be stored and transmitted more easily.
StuffIt Expander is a utility designed to open any of these compressed, archived, or encoded "packages" that you receive.
Upgrading from StuffIt Expander to StuffIt Deluxe
To get files out of archives, StuffIt Expander can only expand the entire contents. StuffIt Deluxe allows you to browse the contents of archives and selectively extract items. Deluxe also includes tools for creating archives in popular formats such as Zip, Tar and the cutting-edge StuffIt X. With Deluxe you can schedule compressed backups, search for files stored in archives, preview images stored in archives, and automate your workflow with several scripting options. Find out more here:
http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/stuffitdeluxe/index.html
Expanding Files with StuffIt Expander
Using StuffIt Expander
When you launch the StuffIt Expander application, the Expansion Tile will appear.
If you single-click on this tile, you will be prompted for files to expand.
Expanding with StuffIt Expander
Expanding by Double-Click
Some archives like StuffIt X (.sitx) are automatically associated with StuffIt Expander. You can expand them by double-clicking the file in the Finder. Expander will launch and expand the file and quit. StuffIt Expander will put the expanded files in the same location as the archive. (This setting can be changed in the Preferences.)
Tip: You can change the File Associations in the StuffIt Expander Preferences.
Note: If you have older versions or multiple copies of StuffIt Expander, you should remove the other copies.
Expanding by Drag and Drop to Application Icon/ OS X Dock Icon
You can also expand files by dragging and dropping them on the application icon, or the Expander icon in the OS X Dock. Expander will launch and expand the file and quit. StuffIt Expander will put the expanded files in the same location as the archive.
Tip: You can keep StuffIt Expander always accessible in the OS X Dock. Just launch StuffIt Expander, then right-click or control-click on the StuffIt Expander icon in the OS X Dock. From the pop-up menu, select "Options->Keep in Dock."
Tip: You can expand more than one file at a time by dragging multiple items onto StuffIt Expander.
Expanding by Drag and Drop to the StuffIt Expander Tile
When StuffIt Expander is running, just drag files onto the Expansion Tile. The files will be expanded into the same location as the archive.
Note: If, when expanding a file from an archive to a location on your disk, StuffIt Expander finds that a file with the same name already exists in the selected destination, you will be prompted to select which of the two files you would like to preserve.
Progress and Canceling Operations
StuffIt Expander has progress bar that appears over the main Expander window. To cancel an operation. Click the "X" to the right of the progress bar.
More Tips
Once you've expanded files from an archive, you may not need the archive in which they were packaged any longer and can delete it. In the Preferences, you can configure Expander to automatically discard the archive after expansion.
If there is a "package within a package" that Expander recognizes, it will continue to expand the resulting files.
Expanding Segmented Files
StuffIt Expander can join several types of segmented files. To join a segmented file, you must have all of the segments in the same location (ie: a folder). To join the segments into a single file, drag only the first segment of the set onto StuffIt Expander. When Expander is finished joining the segments, the resulting file will be located in the same directory as the original segments (this setting can be changed in the Preferences).
If the segmented archive you want to expand is stored on multiple CDs or DVDs, you can expand the segments one by one. First insert the disk that contains segment 1, and then drag and drop that segment onto StuffIt Expander. After Expander has finished expanding the first segment, you will be prompted to insert the disks that contain the remaining segments in the set.
Expanding Encrypted Archives
StuffIt Expander will prompt you to provide the passphrase before encrypted files can be expanded. If you do not have the correct passphrase you will not be able to access the files stored in the encrypted archive.
What's in the Package?
While StuffIt Expander can help you to open the compressed, archived, or encoded files (the packages) that you encounter, once the package is opened, Expander's job is done. StuffIt Expander has no knowledge of what's inside the archive. You will still need an application installed on your Macintosh to view, edit, or otherwise work with the files you have expanded.
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Tip: If you have questions about files expanded with StuffIt Expander, we suggest that you contact the party that posted or sent you the files to find out what program is needed to open them.
Working with Stuffit Expander Preferences
You can change the behavior of StuffIt Expander using the StuffIt Expander Preferences dialog. To open StuffIt Expander Preferences, choose Preferences from the "StuffIt Expander" menu. You can set where StuffIt Expander will save files extracted files are extracted.
Expander Preferences
- Expand archives to:
- Same as source: When this option is selected, files will be saved to the same location as the archive, compressed file, or encoded file from which they were expanded. This is the default setting.
- Ask: When this option is selected, StuffIt Expander will prompt you to specify a location to which files should be expanded.
- Specify location...: Use this option to set a specific location to be used every time StuffIt Expander saves a file.
- Mount disk images: When this setting is enabled, StuffIt Expander will attempt to mount disk image files (resulting in the appearance of a "virtual disk"). Apple's DiskImageMounter Utility is used to mount the images.
- Reveal in Finder: When this option is enabled the Expander will open the Finder window to reveal the expanded files.
- Move archives to Trash after expanding: When enabled, the archives you expand will be discarded once the files they contain are successfully expanded.
Notifications:
- Notify with Growl when complete: If you have Growl installed, notifications will be passed to the Growl notification system automatically.
- Use Email: When this option is enabled, you will be prompted to enter an email address. When the operation completes, a notification email message will be sent (via OS X's built in sendmail function) to the specified address.
Note: if no network connection is available, sendmail will "swallow" the outgoing message.
General Preferences
- Keep a daily usage log: When this option is enabled, Expander will log all its activities to ~/Library/Logs/StuffIt Expander. You can click the "Show Logs" button to quickly jump to that folder.
- Automatically check for updates: StuffIt Expander uses Sparkle for version checking and self-updating. If there is a new version of Expander available, you will receive an alert. You can choose one of the following options:
- Install Update : Downloads the new version, quits Expander, and installs the new version in its place
- Remind Me Later : Dismisses the dialog, but it reappears the next time you launch Expander
- Skip This Version : Dismisses the dialog and prevents it from reappearing until the next revision is available.
Advanced Preferences
The Advanced Preferences allow you to determine, individually, which archive and encoded file formats will be opened with StuffIt Expander when double-clicked in the Finder.If you purchased the StuffIt Deluxe suite, this setting also allows you to choose whether StuffIt X, StuffIt, Zip, Tar or RAR archive will be expanded with StuffIt Expander, or opened in browse-mode in the StuffIt Archive Manager application, when double-clicked in the Finder. Compressed Tar archives can also be browsed in StuffIt Archive Manager by assigning bzip2, gzip, and UNIX compress accordingly. If you often wish to view or modify the contents of, or extract individual items from an archive, then associating these archive types to Archive Manager is a good choice.
Note: If you have StuffIt Destinations, or StuffIt Deluxe, you do not need StuffIt Expander. All the features of StuffIt Expander are included in these other StuffIt products.
Supported Formats
| Archives | Typical Filename Extension |
|---|---|
| StuffIt X archives | .sitx |
| StuffIt 5 and older StuffIt archives | .sit |
| StuffIt 5 and older Mac Self-Extracting archives | .sea |
| Zip archives (including encrypted and Zip64 archives) | .zip |
| Windows Self-Extracting archives | .exe |
| RAR archives (including encrypted archives) | .rar |
| TAR archives | .tar |
| Tarballs (Compressed TAR archives): | |
| Gzip Compressed Tar | .tar.gz, .tgz, .taz |
| Bzip Compressed Tar | .tar.bz, .tbz |
| Bzip2 Compressed Tar | .tarbz2, .tbz2 |
| UNIX Compressed Tar | .tar.Z, .tz |
| LZMA Compressed Tar | .tar.lzma, .tlzma |
| 7-Zip archives (including encrypted archives) | .7z |
| Compact Pro archives (including self-extracting archives) | .cpt |
| Windows CAB Files | .cab |
| LHA archives | .lha, .lzh |
| ARJ archives | .arj |
| ARC archives | .arc |
| Comic Book Archives: | |
| CBZ | .cbz |
| CBR | .cbr |
| CBT | .cbt |
| CB7 | .cb7 |
| Segments | Typical Filename Extension |
|---|---|
| StuffIt X segments | .part01.sitx,.part02.sitx, etc. |
| StuffIt 5 and older segments | .sit.1, .sit.2, etc. |
| Zip segments | .z01, .z02, etc. |
| Split Archives (used by some Zip, Rar and 7-Zip implementations) | .001, .002, etc. |
| Compressed Files | Typical Filename Extension |
|---|---|
| StuffIt SpaceSaver compressed files | n/a |
| gzip compressed files | .gzip, .gz |
| bzip compressed files | .bzip, .bz |
| bzip2 compressed files | .bzip2, .bz2 |
| UNIX compressed files | .z, .Z |
| LZMA compressed files | .lzma |
| Encoded Files | Typical Filename Extension |
|---|---|
| AppleSingle encoded files | n/a |
| Binhex encoded files | .hqx |
| MacBinary encoded files | .bin |
| UUencode encoded files | .uu, .uue |
| Base64/MIME encoded files | .b64, .mme, .mime |
| yEncode encoded files | .yenc, .ync |
| BtoAText encoded files | .b2a, .btoa |
| Encoded Archives | Typical Filename Extension |
|---|---|
| Binhex encoded StuffIt X archives | .sitx.hqx |
| Binhex encoded StuffIt archives | .sit.hqx |
| Binhex encoded Self-Extracting archives | .sea.hqx |
| MacBinary encoded StuffIt X archives | .sitx.bin |
| MacBinary Encoded StuffIt archives | .sit.bin |
| MacBinary encoded Self-Extracting archives | .sea.bin |
| UUencode encoded Zip archives | .zip.uu, .zip.uue |
| Other | Typical Filename Extension |
|---|---|
| PrivateFile encrypted files | .pf |
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