# WinRAR Error Message "CRC failed in the encrypted file"



## d_m_burkus (Mar 12, 2010)

Dear Fellow Members,

It has been some time since I have been able to get back on line, even briefly. Let me begin with a description of the circumstances which prompted this post.

I received a series of 32 .rar downloads (made using a good, high speed connection and under optimal conditions), which contain what I believe is a full DVD (sent as an .iso file) of a cultural event from the person who made the recording, of an event in which he was a participant, and for which he owns the rights. This does not relate to any sort of illegal file sharing. 

When I tried to extract the .iso file, the file extracts fully and (apparently) completely (the counter goes up to 100%), but at the end (only after the file has extracted 100%) I consistently received the following WinRAR error message:


"CRC failed in the encrypted file xxx.iso (wrong password?)."


The password was correct (I have had experience that when the password is actually incorrect, the opening sequence will not initiate in the first place); the resulting .iso file (saved because I asked WinRAR to "keep corrupted files") is the full size of the file which was sent. According to what I have been able to read on line (and, again, from past experience), WinRAR should be able to indicate which of the files is corrupt during the extraction process (I have subsequently tested the archives several times in an attempt to find what is wrong), but no problem with any of the files has been indicated. Recovery records were supplied in every part, and so I repaired every part, hoping to catch whatever error might have crept in during the download process. Yet extracting from the "repaired" set of files gives the same result as that done using the original files.

Note, again, that none of the parts is indicated by WinRAR as being corrupt; only the cryptic message given above is returned.

I considered trying to burn the file to a disc, but this machine can only burn CDs, and the file, at nearly 3 GB, is too large to do that.

I have "Alcohol 120%" installed on this machine and the .iso file is present in the virtual drive created by this program. However, Windows says:


"Windows cannot read from this disk. The disk might be corrupted, or it could be using a format that is not compatible with Windows."


All of this is happening on my notebook, which is not a particularly good machine (and, with a 40 GB hard drive, is particularly limited in resources as well). Unfortunately, my large computer (which, I believe, has a program which can convert the contents of the .iso file into a playable media format) is still packed up in a box in storage and, until I get a place to live and set up house again, it is going to have to remain there. The operating system (on both computers) is XP; all Updates are up to date.

I can not think of anything else that I can say. I would very much appreciate any help or advice which anyone might be able to give. Thank you very much for your time and assistance.


Sincerely yours,

Daniel M. Burkus


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

CRC error means that the file is unreadable and or corrupted, probably just the last tidbit. You can try to open the ISO file with MagicISO but if Alcohol didn't open it, this probably won't either.


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## d_m_burkus (Mar 12, 2010)

Dear "Spunk,"

Thank you very much for your kind reply. You know, I have often found that the best way to get something to resolve itself is by going to the bother of asking someone else for help! After I made my post, I tried opening the file once again, and failed again; and then, an hour or so later, I decided to give it one more try before I dumped the files and asked the sender to send them to me one more time (since I do not have my own hard-wired internet connection, and wireless is really bad, this would necessitate a day or two in a PC Room, something to which I did not look forward)...and the thing extracted without error messages, and plays beautifully (I have already converted the files to .avi and edited them up as needed)! It beats me why it failed to do so the umpteen times previous, but there it is. As I was sure, both the password and the files themselves were fine. No idea what was up with WinRAR, but it might just as well be the computer -- which, as I said, is not really a very good one.

Anyway, thank you once again for your time, and help. Please have a good day!


Sincerely yours,

Daniel M. Burkus


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