arj

ARJ is a legacy file archiver and the associated archive format that originated for DOS and later found use on Windows and other platforms. Developed in the early 1990s, ARJ became one of the common tools for distributing software and data in compressed archives during the era when ZIP and other formats were popular.

ARJ archives are known for supporting multi-volume archives and for preserving key metadata such as file timestamps and directory structures. The tool offered a range of compression options and included features intended to facilitate management of large archives, including the ability to add comments to archives and to exclude or update specific files as needed. Depending on the version, ARJ also provided compatibility options and password protection.

The software was distributed as a command-line program, often accompanied by various GUI front ends and ports to Windows, OS/2, and other systems. It competed with ZIP-based tools and other archivers in the 1990s, and it enjoyed widespread use in software distributions and back-up workflows of that period.

In later years, ARJ activity declined as ZIP, RAR, and newer archive formats gained dominance and as developers shifted to more actively maintained tools. Today, ARJ is primarily of historical interest; however, modern archive utilities such as 7-Zip can typically extract ARJ archives, preserving the contents for access by contemporary systems. The legacy ARJ format remains a point of reference for archival compatibility in some legacy software and data sets.