Many users, who often download something from various file hosting sites, sooner or later wonder about how to find out an indicator called “file checksum”? This needs to be clarified in some cases. For example, when a checksum error is constantly issued when starting a downloaded application. In this material we will study in detail how to find out this information.
So, first you need to go into the folder where the file (s) are contained , the checksum of which we are interested in. This is done with the help of a file manager, which is very familiar to everyone. It is called "Total Commander." Using the drive buttons or the drop-down lists that are located above the panels (as you wish), you should switch to the drive in which the necessary directory is located. Using the method of successive directory changes, you should find the folder you are interested in.
When you open this folder, its contents (files and subfolders) will appear in front of you. Using the paddle or arrow keys that control the cursor, you must move the list marker down or up. On the file or files of interest, click the “insert” button. This action will highlight the necessary data.
Next, you need to display the parameter settings dialog with which the checksum will be calculated. To do this, select “File” in the main menu of our file manager, and then click on “Create SFV checksum file”.
After doing this manipulation, we set the parameters for calculating the file index "checksum". In the dialog that appears, it is necessary to activate the “MD5” flag (only if it is necessary to obtain the result as an MD5 hash). The MD5 algorithm itself is pretty cryptographic, so it now acts as the de facto standard when used for civilian purposes, as well as during publication on the World Wide Web. So, we set the switch to the position "A separate SFV file is created for each file." This is done so that each calculated checksum is stored in a separate file. Now you need to specify the path where the calculation result will be saved, as well as the name template.
Further, our task is to calculate the checksums of all selected files. Therefore, we click the “OK” button in the window of the previous dialog and wait for the completion of the processes that form the files of these checksums. If the total amount of processed data is large, then all calculations can take a considerable period of time.
After the end of the previous step, we begin to examine the contents of all created files. This is done using a text editor or viewer. If the file manager created several result files at once, then you open the file that has a similar name with the one whose checksum is of interest to you. To view, select this file and press the F3 key. Sets of lines, which consist of two parts, will be the contents of these files. The first part of the line itself, which will be located before the "asterisk", is the value of the file checksum. And all that follows after the asterisk is the file name.