Archive Support
ROM Validator reads ROM files directly from archives. You do not have to extract them yourself.
Supported archive formats
| Format | Read | Internal rename | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.zip | Yes | Yes (repacked as zip) | |
.7z | Yes | Yes (repacked as 7z) | |
.rar | Yes | Yes (repacked as zip) | RAR creation is not supported by any open library, so repacked RAR archives become zip files |
Only files with these extensions are treated as archives. Everything else is hashed as a plain file.
How archives are processed
- The archive is opened with SharpCompress and every non-directory entry is hashed.
- If SharpCompress cannot read the archive, the bundled 7za executable is used as a fallback: the archive is extracted to a temporary folder and the extracted files are hashed.
- When a file inside an archive must be renamed to match the DAT, the archive is extracted, the entry is renamed and the archive is repacked:
- zip and 7z archives are repacked with SharpCompress,
- if SharpCompress cannot create the archive, the bundled 7za is used,
- RAR archives are converted to zip.
Large entries are streamed; the application does not load a whole ROM into memory.
Bundled 7-Zip executables
The application ships with standalone 7-Zip 26.03 command-line tools:
| File | Architecture |
|---|---|
7za.exe | x64 |
7za_arm64.exe | ARM64 |
The correct executable is selected automatically based on the operating system architecture. If the executable is missing, archive creation falls back to SharpCompress only and the application continues to work for zip archives and for reading all supported formats.
Disk space
Repacking an archive requires temporary disk space:
- the application estimates the uncompressed size of the archive and requires roughly twice that size plus twice the archive size,
- the default temporary drive is tried first, then the drive of the archive, then any other ready drive,
- if no drive has enough free space, the archive is skipped and the run stops with a clear message instead of failing halfway.
Temporary folders are tracked and cleaned up automatically, including a background retry for files that are briefly locked by other programs.
Cloud-only files
Files that are placeholders for cloud storage (for example OneDrive “online-only” files) are reported as user errors and skipped. Download the file locally before validating.
Corrupt archives
A corrupt or unsupported archive is reported as a failed item; the run continues with the next file. Per-entry corruption is reported for the affected entry only.