[DennyWilson]

Ok, tried a couple more files that were zip and they download ok and then won't open.

Since I didn't have this problem in the past, I'm wondering where the issue might be - in the download, a setting on my computer or someting else.

Any ideas?

[Roygbiv666]

Are they ".zip" files, or are they ".cbz"? If they are ".zip" have you tried simply renaming it with the other extension, ".cbz"? If they are actually a zip file with a bunch of files in it, you'd need to run  WINZIP or a similar utility to decompress it.

[JonTheScanner]

Your question is hard to answer since you haven't told us which files or how you're trying to "open" them, but it is very likely the problem is at your end since most of the files here have been downloaded at least once and if there were a problem with the file, it likely would have already been reported.

Others have answered similar questions, but it might bear repeating. .cbz files are simply renamed .zip files and .cbr files are simply renamed .rar files.  Or they should be.  Sometimes people may mistakenly rename them the wrong one.  There also used to be a problem with uploading one type of file here (I forget which) so some might have been purposely misnamed to defeat that problem.

Some reader programs will open either regardless of which they're named; other programs might not do this. 

It's also possible you have a double extension file.cbz.zip or some such.  If you have your computer set to hide extensions of known file types, you will see this as a cbz file but your programs won't think so.  They''ll know it's a zip file.

So if you have a problem ....

check to see if you're seeing the full correct file name.

If it says .cbr or .cbz as the only extension, try the other one.  If that doesn't work, change it back to what it was and

Try to open the file with a decompression program like winrar or pkunzip. 

Look and see if there's an additional compressed file inside it.  (I.e., a compressed compressed file -- there's no reason that I know of that this should have been done, but it is true of some files.

whatever you get try to extract the files to individual files.

If what is extracted is a single .cbz .cbr .rar or .zip repeat this process

See if those individual files are corrupt and if you have a full set.  You can use many programs to do this including the native file viewing program on your computer  (whatever default program the extension .jpg is associated with)

If you wish, you can then recompress all the single files once into a single .zip or .rar file and then rename it .cbz or cbz.

[DennyWilson]

Here's whats happened so far:

http://goldenagecomics.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1881.0.html

http://goldenagecomics.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1869.0.html

[Astaldo711]

It sounds like a case of Occam's Razor. If no one else is having these problems, it must be on your end. Did you try opening the file in a program other than the Windows default one? I use cdisplay and winrar. I downloaded Police Comics #9. It was labeled Police_Comics_009ctc.zip. I saved it as a zip file. I then opened it in winrar. That created a folder named Police_Comics_009. Inside that folder was a bunch of jpegs. I selected all the jpegs and combined them into a .rar file. I then had Police_Comics_009ctc.rar. I changed the extension to .cbr and it opened okay.
I've seen several books here with a .zip or .rar extension and I usually rename them to a .cbz or .cbr respectively before I actually save it.

[bchat]

This is a problem that members like Denny have had that's bugged me enough that I had to try something:  I downloaded a file today that I had previously downloaded in October '09 ... Speed Comics 28 (a freddyfly zip file).  The Oct DL opens with no problem & always has ...  I never had to fiddle with it to get it to open properly.  Today's DL of the same exact file results in the "This archive is not a valid zip archive" message when opened in CDisplay.  The only difference between the two downloaded files is the date I'm downloading them.  So, it would seem to me, since nothing has changed on my end, that the server change has caused some sort of incompatibility issue with some members & zip files.

Bear in mind that I'm not asking for help in opening these files because it only takes me a few seconds more to end-up with a file that works properly.  I am only speaking-up so that people are aware that Denny isn't the only person experiencing this glitch, he's just the one that's been the most vocal about it.

adding ...
I just downloaded Atomic Mouse 45, which is one of my own uploads ... and I get the "This archive is not a valid zip archive" message.  I also tried downloading AM 45 from my 4shared folder, to see if something was fouled-up when the file was created, and the 4shared file works perfectly.  So at least for me, it's not just freddyfly's files, but any zip file I'm grabbing from this site that's causing problems.

[JonTheScanner]

I just downloaded Speed 28 and it opened fine with both Winrar and winzip.  The only thing I can suggest is that we're suffering minor internet connection blivitss which causes a corruption in the file, but I really have no idea.

[DennyWilson]

This is a problem that members like Denny have had that's bugged me enough that I had to try something:  I downloaded a file today that I had previously downloaded in October '09 ... Speed Comics 28 (a freddyfly zip file).  The Oct DL opens with no problem & always has ...  I never had to fiddle with it to get it to open properly.  Today's DL of the same exact file results in the "This archive is not a valid zip archive" message when opened in CDisplay.  The only difference between the two downloaded files is the date I'm downloading them.  So, it would seem to me, since nothing has changed on my end, that the server change has caused some sort of incompatibility issue with some members & zip files.

Bear in mind that I'm not asking for help in opening these files because it only takes me a few seconds more to end-up with a file that works properly.  I am only speaking-up so that people are aware that Denny isn't the only person experiencing this glitch, he's just the one that's been the most vocal about it.

adding ...
I just downloaded Atomic Mouse 45, which is one of my own uploads ... and I get the "This archive is not a valid zip archive" message.  I also tried downloading AM 45 from my 4shared folder, to see if something was fouled-up when the file was created, and the 4shared file works perfectly.  So at least for me, it's not just freddyfly's files, but any zip file I'm grabbing from this site that's causing problems.

Well, maybe we can track down the problem - could be server glitch for some,or something else. I know some people have NOT had problems downloading or opening these files.

However, using several different programs, I'm still unable to open these files  - they are in there,they just won't come out!

[DennyWilson]

I just downloaded Speed 28 and it opened fine with both Winrar and winzip.  The only thing I can suggest is that we're suffering minor internet connection blivitss which causes a corruption in the file, but I really have no idea.

I've downloaded several of the files more than once and the issues still happens.

[DennyWilson]

I wonder if it's a browser issue? I'm running windows XP Internet Explorer 8

[narfstar]

I have windows xp and google chrome. I just downloaded Atomic Mouse 45 it opened fine as zip and when renamed cbz. Just tried speed 28 worked as both also

[Astaldo711]

They work on Mozilla Firefox as well. Maybe we could ask up-loaders not to upload zipped files until we can sort it out?

[narfstar]

It is preferable to upload them as cbz  initially to save a step.

[bakerman3]

Denny, this sounds exactly like the problem I described in my thread in this section "Are all FREDDFLY scans damaged?"

If it's Freddyfly scans that are giving you difficulty, the problem is that the zip file has a file inside that does NOT have an extension.  In other words, the zip file you download might be "Police9.zip" or whatever, but the file INSIDE that zip archive is simply named "Police9" with no extension like cbr or cbz after it.  Therefore CDisplay won't read it, and even changing the "Police9.zip" to "Police9.cbz" won't do anything because it's not the outer zip that's the problem, it's the INNER file that's the problem.

You have to open the zip file in your zip program (e.g. WinRAR), and EXTRACT the inner file to a folder.  Then add an extension like cbz to the inner file in that folder and the file should then be able to be opened using CDisplay.

For more detailed info on this process, check out the FREDDYFLY thread.

Even if your problem scans are NOT Freddyfly's, try using the method described in that thread to see if it works for you.

[Astaldo711]

When I looked at Police #9 it was a zip file and inside was a folder with the jpegs in it. I had to take the jpeg files and put them in an archive and change that to a cbr file before I could read it.

[bakerman3]

OK, then that's a different thing, but in my FREDDYFLY thread on the last page, you will see some posts with lists of problematic Fiction House and Fawcett scans that have a single file inside the zip, and the file has no extension.

Yoc and I were communicating back and forth and I was posting lists of issues with the problem I described as I encountered them.

[JVJ]

Any possibility that we've gone from a Unix to a Windows server (or vice versa) and the OS of the server is treating some files differently? If the problem is repeatable and is happening to more than one member, the various OS's might be handling things in different ways. What OS are Denny and bchat using?

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[DennyWilson]

I think the issue IS with IE8!.  I instaled Google Crome and they downloaded and opened just fine!

My os is windows XP/servce pack 3

[Astaldo711]

So it's working for you now? Good to hear!

[Jedifish]

I just downloaded Popular Comics #107 and #138 recently uploaded by Prime User, and I got the "This archive is not a valid Zip archive". It has the .cbz extension.

Prime User recently uploaded Popular Comics #110, which has a .cbr extension which worked fine.

2 others

Midnight #1 (4) works fine with .cbz (downloaded 3/1/10) (Tigger)

Midnight #3 does not work. Same error as above. (ASTRP3)

[Jedifish]

I'm using IE8, by the way. Midnight #1 and #2 were both downloaded with IE8, and both on the same day.

The other .cbz's I've downloaded recently:

Wow Comics #9 on 3/8/10, Madhouse #1 on 3/1, Crackajack Funnies #3 on 2/25 Rex Allen #10 on 2/18, and those open fine.

[narfstar]

Again I think the problem may be the double extension on some files.

[Astaldo711]

You have to check the whole file name. If the extension is .cbz look further back in the file name. What Narfstar means by double extension is that some files may have both .zip and .cbz files on them, like Comic_Book_001.zip.cbz

[Jedifish]

I understand that, but IE8 only shows the .cbz extension, not the .cbz.zip extension. With IE8, I couldn't delete the .zip extension.

But at least I now understand the issue, and at least in one instance, we narrowed it down to Prime Users uploads for a certain period of time, in case others have the same problem.