UPX-iT
Overview
I even don’t know where to start. Actually, the topic of the review is UPX-iT, a shell for UPX packer, so I guess I’ll describe the packer itself very briefly, as well as its packing algorithm.
UPX – according to the information on their website – has been created in 1996. It is now number two among all other known packers by overall rating and number one by the speed of compression. Click to review the compressors text details here.
UPX uses NRV compression library (abbreviation for Not Really Vanished) for packing
Installation
Setup file is 1,130 Kb in size. After installation it requires to restart the computer. Shame, I was just going to compile my project :( Ok.
Process description
Looking at the program I first thought that I could load multiple files and then pack them all at once, but I was wrong, only one at a time.
Ok, I chose two files for testing: my project’s *.exe file and Adobe PhotoShop *.dll:
Autobet.exe: 1 051 648 bytes
PhotoShop.dll: 897 024 bytes
I chose best compression ratio and packed them. Here are the results:
Autobet.exe: 346 112 bytes
PhotoShop.dll: 396 800 bytes
I was impressed. Being intrigued I decided to compare these results with those of WinRAR (at maximum compression ratio too).
Here is what I got:
Autobet.exe: 355 185 bytes for RAR, 446 994 bytes for ZIP
PhotoShop.dll: 291 264 bytes for RAR, 326 048 bytes for ZIP
As you can see, UPX is better for executables, and RAR & ZIP – for dynamic libraries. Of course, this makes sense only if you don’t want to execute the compressed files.
This is a praise to UPX of course, not UPX-iT.
The most wonderful ability of UPX is to be able to work with the compressed files as if they
were not! Have you ever tried to launch a RARed file as an executable?
I testify that after compression both autobet.exe and PhotoShop.dll worked as before.
Output format
Output format is always equal to the input format, as you might guess. Besides UPC-iT creates a backup with a ~ in the end of the file’s extension.
Interface, wizards, help files
Help files and FAQ are absent. In the “Help” menu there is only “About” item, which displays author’s name and company. Too bad, because I’d like to know what those numerous options mean… 
Interface contains many settings, some of them are clear to me, and the others – not.
There is one useful option: UPX appears in the context menu when you right-click on a file in the explorer window. Then in the UPX-iT options you should tick “Auto compress after loading”, “Exit when done” and “Text file after compression”, and you’ll be able to compress files with one click and launch them immediately for testing.
History of compressions will be helpful for the developers of products with frequent releases. UPX-iT creates a HTML file with a list of all the actions (either packing or unpacking) that you have ever committed with files. As for me, this is a great option.
Competitors
We are still talking about GUI to UPX packer, so I am listing other shells, not packers:
UPX Shell, UPX-GUI, A-UPX GUI, UPX Interface
Prices, where to buy, URL
I think the website is devoted not to the program, but to Alexander himself, so it’s hard to find the information quickly.
The program is free, written by a single coder Alexander Feller. He’s got his own website http://www.codeplace.de, where everything is in German (though the program’s interface is in English).
But you may go to the discussion board of UPX itself http://upx.sourceforge.net/phpBB/ and learn answers to possible questions.
My personal Conclusion
Not bad, though it’s a real pain to guess what the program can do. If the author included at least general description of the options and features, I would want to buy this product, if it was for sale.
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