Repairing corrupt ZIP file downloaded from the Internet

You can have one or more files in a single ZIP file, which can be unzipped using the compression tools such as WinZIP, WinRAR, etc. However, sometimes the ZIP file gets corrupt and is unable to open. This may happen due to various reasons such as virus infections, CRC errors, interruptions in the download of the file, power surges, etc. In such cases, you should take appropriate steps to resolve this issue. However, if you are unable to do so then you should use a third-party ZIP recovery software to repair ZIP file.

Consider a scenario wherein one of your friends has sent you a copy of his resume, in a ZIP file, that you want to forward in your organization. You download the ZIP file and copy it in a pen drive. When you try to unzip it it your office, you are unable to do so. An error message is displayed, that is:

“Cannot open file: it does not appear to be a valid archive. If you downloaded this file, try downloading the file again.”

Cause:
The most possible cause of this error message is that there may be interruptions in the Internet connection when you downloaded the ZIP file. Due to this, the file may have become corrupt and, hence, the error occurs.

Resolution:
To get a clean copy of the ZIP file, you should download the file again from your email account. However, it may happen that your friend sent it to your personal email id that is not accessible at your office. Also, you need the file urgently as it has to be sent to the HR department immediately. In such cases, you should use a third-party ZIP repair tool to repair ZIP file. Such tools recover the data from the corrupted ZIP files without damaging the original content.