If you're working on a temporary computer, you may be limited to the installed applications. If you stumble across a file archive, there will be no way of opening the file without an archive manager. The solution would be to use a portable archive manager, on a flash drive, which wouldn't require installation. Simply install the archive manager to your USB drive, connect to the host PC and open with the tool on the portable drive.

PeaZip 2.5 Portable is free archive manager that comes recommended by vnunet.com. As well as supporting the standard ZIP format, it will enable you to open or create .TAR. .7z and many others. Many other file formats are supported, including ISO images.

PeaZip Portable link.

28 Jan 2009