Multi-volume Archive¶

Paquet Builder allows you to create multi-volume archives, where the output file is split into smaller, more manageable files (volumes).

Why Use Multi-volume Archives?¶

Large single archive files can be difficult to share online or over networks, as they are prone to corruption and data loss. Multi-volume archives split the file into smaller chunks, making them easier to distribute and more resilient to issues during transfer.

Additionally, this feature enables the creation of Self-Extracting archives larger than 4 GB, bypassing the 4 GB limit for Windows EXE files.

Drawback¶

The main disadvantage is the need to distribute multiple files alongside the primary Self-Extracting archive (EXE).

Volume Size¶

Specify the desired size for each volume in bytes. You can also use units like Gigabytes, Megabytes, or Kilobytes for convenience.

Output Filenames¶

Paquet Builder uses 7-Zip's naming convention for multi-volume archives:

For Self-Extracting archives:¶

If the Package Filename is myarchive.exe, the generated volumes will be named:
- myarchive.exe
- myarchive.exe.001
- myarchive.exe.002
- myarchive.exe.003

For Archive Files:¶

If the package type is set to Archive File, the generated 7z multi-volume archive will have filenames like:
- myarchive.7z.001
- myarchive.7z.002
- myarchive.7z.003

Extracting a Multi-volume Archive¶

Important:
To successfully extract a multi-volume archive, all volume files must be located in the same folder as the main EXE file. If a volume is missing, the extraction will fail, and the package will exit with the following error message:

"An unexpected error occurred while unpacking file(s). Error code: -5"

This error occurs because the package cannot reconstruct the original archive from incomplete volume files.

GSplit Advanced File Archiver¶

For more advanced file splitting options, consider using GSplit, our free file splitter software. GSplit provides versatile features for managing split files.

Learn more about GSplit here.