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Generate MD5 Checksums on Windows

By Martin English | November 21, 2009

How do you know, for sure, that the file you’ve download has been transferred correctly ? The UNIX (and by extension, internet) standard has, for years, been checking the md5 hash. Now, there’s plenty of info on the web about creating or checking MD5 or SHA-1 checksums for UNIX or Linux users, but not very much about doing the same on Windows.

If you want to create or verify MD5 or SHA-1 checksums on windows, have a look at Microsoft’s FCIV tool.

The File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) is a command-prompt utility that computes and verifies cryptographic hash values of files. FCIV can compute MD5 or SHA-1 cryptographic hash values. These values can be displayed on the screen or saved in an XML file database for later use and verification.

The FCIV utility has the following features:
* Supports MD5 or SHA1 hash algorithms (The default is MD5.)
* Can output hash values to the console or store the hash value and file name in an XML file
* Can recursively generate hash values for all files in a directory and in all subdirectories (for example, fciv.exe c:\ -r)
* Supplies an exception list to specify files or directories to hash
* Can store hash values for a file with or without the full path of the file

Topics: Microsoft, Productivity, Security, Technology | No Comments »

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