checksum
a point-and-click sha1 and md5 hashing application for windows..

After years searching for the perfect Windows file verification utility, I decided to write it!

Welcome to checksum, a blisteringly fast, no-nonsense file hashing application for Windows. checksum is a program that generates and verifies SHA1 and MD5 hashes; aka. "MD5 Sums", or "digital fingerprints"; of a file, a folder, or recursively, even through an entire hard drive, does it very quickly, intelligently, and without fuss. I think it's the best checksum utility on planet Earth, of course.

checksum on my Windows desktop, hashing like crazy.. [desktop wallpaper by Sharonga]

Normally I would put a cute image of the program here, but generally speaking, you don't see checksum running, it just gets on with the job. However, checksum does - optionally - pop up a cute progress ToolTip windoid, so I'll show you that instead..

Why?

In the decade before checksum, I must have installed and uninstalled dozens, perhaps hundreds of Windows MD5 hashing utilities, and overwhelmingly they leave me muttering "brain-dead POS!" under my breath, or words to that effect, or not under my breath. I always knew that data verification should be simple, even easy, but it invariably ended up a chore.

Either the brain-dead programs don't know how to recurse, or don't even pretend to, or they give the MD5 hash files daft, generic names, or they can't handle long file names, or foreign file names, or multiple files, or they run in MS DOS, or choke on UTF-8, or are painfully slow, or insist on presenting me with a complex interface, or don't have any decent hashing algorithms, or don't know how to synchronize new files with old, or any combination of these things; I usually end up shouting "FUXAKE! JUST DO IT WILL YA!!!".

No more! Now I have checksum, and it suffers from none of these problems; as well as adding a few tricks of its own..

What is it for, exactly?

Peace of mind! SHA1 and MD5 hashes are used to verify that a file or group of files has not changed. Simple as that. This is useful, even crucial, in all kinds of situations where data integrity is important. For instance, these days, it's not uncommon to find MD5 hashes (and less rarely now, SHA1 hashes) published alongside downloads, even Windows downloads. This hash, when used, ensures that the file you downloaded is exactly the same file the author uploaded, and hasn't been tampered with in any way, trojan added, etc.; even the slightest change in the data produces a wildly different hash.
peace of mind for your optical data media, with hashing

peace of mind for your optical data media, with hashing

It's also very useful if you want to compare files and folders/directories; using checksums is far more accurate than simply comparing file sizes, dates or any other property. For quick file compare tasks, there's also checksum's little brother; simple checksum, simply drag & drop Two files for an instant hash-accurate comparison.

If you burn a lot of data to CD or DVD, you can use a hash checker to accurately verify the integrity of your data right after a burn, and at any time in the future. If you distribute data in any way, maybe torrenteering your favourite things, run a file server of some kind, or just email a few files to your friends; checksums enables the person at the other end to be absolutley sure that the file arrived perfectly, 100% intact.

As well as providing secure verification against tampering, virus infection, file (and backup file) corruption, transfer errors and more, digital fingerprints can serve as an "early warning" of possible media failures, be they optical or magnetic. It was a checksum failure that recently alerted me to a failing batch of DVD-R disks; I saved my fading data in time, and got a refund on the disks. I'll leave you to consider the million other uses. There's only one reason, though; peace of mind.

Absolutely no-nonsense file verification..

checksum can create (two clicks, or a drag-and-drop) or verify (one click) both SHA1 and MD5 hashes of a file, a folder, even a whole disk full of files and folders in one simple, no-nonsense, high-performance operation. Basically, you point it at a file or folder and go! The parameters are controlled by command-line switches, but most folk won't have to worry about that; it all happens invisibly, and is built-in to your Windows^® Explorer context (aka "concept", aka "right-click") commands (see above).

Note: while checksum operates with command-line switches, it is NOT a Windows^® console application; there's no messy DOS box, or anything like that. But if you want to run it from a console, that's covered, too.

There are a wealth of command-line options, but most people find that checksum just works exactly as they would expect, without any messing about; right-click and go! But, if you are the sort who likes to customize and hack at things, you will find plenty to keep you occupied!

If you want to change any of checksum's options on-the-fly, simply hold down the SHIFT key when you select its Explorer context menu item, and checksum will pop up a dialog for you to tweak the process. If you want to have anything permanently set, checksum comes with standard plain text Windows ini file for you to tweak to your heart's content. Anyone smart enough to use MD5sums, can edit plain text.

windows checksum creation options dialog

The options dialog is most useful when you want to only hash certain files in a folder, like mp3's, or movies. With your file mask groups, you can configure file-type specific hashing with just a couple of clicks.

checksum creation options dialog, file types group drop-down, regular Windows masks apply

Common music, video, and archive formats come setup and ready to go, and you can easily edit or add to these at any time.

You pop up the options by holding down the SHIFT key when you select the explorer menu item, so it's easy to get to the advanced options whenever you need them. Same goes for verification, though generally you won't need it - checksum is smart enough to just get on with the job, verifying whatever checksum files it finds in the path, be they MD5 or SHA1, or both, and you'll probably never need to use anything but the default verify command, nomatter how advanced you are! And because checksum recognizes other formats of MD5 and SHA1 files, it can be used not only to verify and create new checksums, but also verify existing checksum files, even ancient ones, automatically.

I expect there is some weird MD5 file format out there that I don't have an example of, Wang, maybe? but in practice, checksum supports ALL known MD5 verification file formats, that is, known by me. If you find an MD5 file format that checksum doesn't support, send it to me!

There isn't really a standard SHA1 format yet, but checksum's is pretty good (it's the same as the output from a *NIX sha1sum command in binary mode). Shall we?

100% Portable..

checksum usually operates as a regular installed desktop application with Explorer context menus, custom .hash, .md5 and .sha1 desktop icons, Windows start menu entries, and so on; but checksum can also operate in a completely portable state, and happily works from a pen-drive, DVD, or wherever you happen to be; no less than total portability.

Even with its little brother, simple checksum tagging along, the whole lot fits easily on a floppy disk (remember those?) or pen-drive, enabling you to create SHA1 and MD5 hashes, wherever you are. To activate portable mode, simply drop a checksum.ini file next to checksum.exe, you're done.

It's no problem to run checksum both ways simultaneously, or to run checksum in portable mode on a desktop where checksum is already installed. Simply put, if there's a checksum.ini next to it, checksum will use it, and if there isn't an ini there, checksum uses the one in your user data folder (aka. "Application Data", aka. "AppData").

If you like applications to run in a portable state, even on your own desktop, no problem; you can skip the installer altogether and simply extract files.zip to wherever you like. It's in the installer's files/ directory. There's also a checksum.ini inside the archive, so you can unzip-and-go.

Introducing.. The Unified Hash Extension™
And Multi-Hashing™..

checksum uses the MD5 and SHA1 hashing algorithms, and creates .md5 and .sha1 files to contain these hashes. But checksum prefers to instead create a single .hash extension for all your hash files, whatever algorithm you use. Welcome to the unified .hash extension..

an image

I feel there are quite enough file extensions to deal with, and with some effort on the part of software developers, this may catch on. I hope it does, anyway, and that you agree. A single, unified hash extension looks like the way forward, to me. All comments welcome, below.

As well as being able to verify both MD5 and SHA1 hashes, even mixed up in the same file, checksum can also create such a file, if you so desire. At any rate, if you start using SHA1 hashes some day, you can keep your old MD5s handy, inside your .hash files..

The single, unified hash extension gives us not only the freedom to effortlessly upgrade algorithms at any time, without having to handle yet-another-file-type, but also the ability to easily store output from multiple hashing algorithms inside a single .hash file. Welcome to multi-hashing, which will doubtless have security benefits, to boot.

Fast, bloody fast..

checksum hashing progress fair zipping along

If you do a lot of SHA1 or MD5 hashing, you'll know that it's an intensive process, and relatively slow. Well, checksum is fast, very fast.

Even on my old desktop (a lowly 1.3GHz, where checksum was initially developed) it would rip through a 100MB file in under one second. Hashing your average album is instantaneous. With right-click convenience, intelligent recursion and synchronization, full automization, and crazy-fast hashing speeds, digital fingerprinting is no longer a chore; it's a joy!

Okay, I'm getting carried away, but seriously, this is how hashing was always meant to be.

Features..

If you like lists, and who doesn't, here's a list of checksum's "features", as compared to your average md5 utility..

True point-and-click hash creation and verification.

No-brainer hash creation and verification. In a word; simple.

Choice of MD5 or SHA1 hashing algorithms.

Create a regular MD5sum (128-bit), or further increase security by using the SHA1 algorithm (160-bit). checksum recognizes and works with both formats, even mixed up in the same file.

hash single files, or folders/directories full of files.. no problem.

checksum can create hash files for individual files or folders full of files, and importantly, automatically recognizes both kinds during verification, verifying every kind of checksum file it can find. Also, when creating individual hash files, checksum is smart enough to skip any that already exist.

Effortless recursion. (point at a folder/directory or volume and GO!)

Not only fully automatic creation and verification of files, and folders full of files, but hash all the files and folders inside, and all the folders inside them, and so on, and so on, through an entire volume, if you desire.. one click! ... Drive hashing is now officially EASY!

Multiple user-defined file mask groups.

For instance, hash only MP3 files, or only movies, whatever you like, available from a handy drop-down menu. All your favourite file types can be stored in custom groups for easy-peezy file-type-specific hashing. e.g..

music=*.mp3,*.wav,*.ogg,*.flac,*.ape,*.shn,*.mpc,*.mp2

The most common groups are already provided, and it's trivial to create your own. You can also enter custom masks directly into the one-shot options, e.g. reports-*.pdf, to hash all the reports in a folder, create ad-hoc groups, or whatever.

Automatic music playlist creation!

Another killer feature; checksum can create music playlist files along with your checksums! When creating a folder hash, if checksum encounters any of the music files you have specified in your preferences; mp3's, ogg files, wma, whatever; it can create a playlist for the collection (i.e.. the album). Rather nifty, and a perfect addition to the custom command in the tips and tricks section.

As well as regular Windows standard .m3u playlist files (Winamp, etc.), checksum also supports .pls playlists (shoutcast/icecast). Your call.

Effortlessly handles all known** legacy md5 files.

If you discover an MD5sum that checksum doesn't support, send me that file!

Create lowercase or UPPERCASE checksums at will.

Like many things, this can also be set permanently, if you so wish.

Automatic synchronization of old and new files

Automatically add new hashes to existing checksum files.
That's right! Automatically add new hashes to existing checksum files!

Integrated Windows^® Explorer context (right-click) operation.

The installer will setup Windows^® Explorer context commands for all files and folders, so you can right-click anything and create or verify checksums at will. Very handy. "setup", the rather clever installer, is also available in its own right, as a free, and 100% ini-driven installer engine for your own goodies. Stuffed with features, easy to use, and definitely deserving a page to itself. Soon.

As explained above, you can also bypass the installer altogether, and simply unzip-and-go, for 100% portable checksumming. Or you can have both.

No-fuss intelligent checksum verification.

Cut and paste your own checksum files if you like, rename them, mix and match legacy md5 formats in a single file, even throw in a few sha1 hashes just for fun; worry not; checksum will work it out!

Can be configured to permanently ignore any file types.

Obviously we don't want checksums files of checksum files, for starters, but if you have other file types you'd like on a permanent ignore, desktop.ini files, thumbs.db, whatever; it's easy to setup. The most common annoying file types already are.

Real-time tool-tip style dynamic progress update.

Drag it around the screen - it snaps to the edges, and stays there (checksum also remembers its dialog screen positions, for intuitive, fast operation).

Tool-tip progress can be disabled altogether, if you wish.

Right-click the Tooltip for extra options.

During verification, any failures can be seen real-time in a system tray tool-tip, hover your mouse over the tray icon for details. checksum also flashes the progress tooltip red momentarily, and (optionally) beeps your PC speaker, to let you know of any hash failures. If there were errors, the final tooltip is red (by default). Anything to make life a bit easier.

Verify a mix of multiple (and nested) md5 and sha1 checksum files with a single command.

Does what it says on the can!

Extensionless checksum files.

Traditionally, individual checksum files are named filename.ext.md5. Personally, I find this inelegant, and prefer them to be named filename.md5. I like it so much, I made it the default, but you can change that, if you like. When running extensionless; if checksum encounters multiple files with same name, it simply adds them to the same checksum file, so checksums for foo.txt, foo.htm, and foo.jpg would all go inside foo.md5, or better yet, foo.hash. Highly groovy.

On the verify side of things, checksum has always verified every possible checksum it can find, so these multi-hash file look just like regular folder hash files, and verify perfectly, so long as the data hasn't changed, of course!

Smart checksum file naming, with dynamic @tokens.

checksum file names reflect the actual files or folders checked! Automatically.

If you want more, you can specify either static or dynamic checksum file names, with a wide range of automagically transforming tokens. See below for details.

Effortless hashing of read-only volumes.

checksum can create sha1 and md5 hashes for the read-only volume, but store the checksum files elsewhere; either with relative paths inside; so you can later copy the checksum file into other copies of the volume, or absolute paths; so you can keep tabs on the originals from anywhere.

checksum currently has three different read-only fallback strategies to choose from; use whichever most suits your needs.

Extensive logging capabilities, with intelligent log handling and dynamic log naming.

checksum always gives you the option to log failures. But you can log everything if you prefer. hashing times can be included in the logs, and proper css classes ensure you can tell what's-what at a glance.

Relative or absolute log file path locations can be configured in your preferences, as can the checksum log name itself; with dynamic date and time, as well as dynamic location and status tokens, so you can customize the output naming format to your exact requirements.

In other words, as well leaving it to checksum to work out automatically, or typing a regular name into your prefs, such as "checksum.log", you can use cool @tokens to insert the current..

@sec ... seconds value. from 00 to 59
@min ... minutes value. from 00 to 59
@hour ... hours value, in 24-hour format. from 00 to 23
@mday ... numeric day of month. from 01 to 31
@mon ... numeric month. from 01 to 12
@year ... four-digit year
@wday ... numeric day of week. from 1 to 7 which corresponds to Sunday through Saturday.
@yday ... numeric day of year. from 1 to 366 (or 365 if not a leap year)

There is also a special token: @item which is transformed into the name of the file or folder being checked, and @status, which automatically transforms into the current success/failure status.

You can mix these up with regular strings, like so..

log_name=[@year-@mon-@mday @ @hour.@min.@sec] checksums for @item [@status!].log

The @status strings can also be individually configured in your prefs, if you wish. Roll the whole thing up, and with the settings above, the final log name might look like..

[2007-11-11 @ 16.43.50] checksums for golden boy [100% AOK!].log

HTML logging with log append and auto log-rotation

As well as good old plain text, checksum can output logs in lovely XHTML, with CSS used for all style and positional elements. With the ability to append new logs to old, and auto-transforming tokens, you setup automatic daily/monthly/whatever log rotation by doing no more than choosing the correct name. You can even have your logs organized by section and date, all automatically; via the free-energy from your @tokens.

Click here to see a sample of checksum's log output, amongst other things.

Total cross-platform and legacy md5 file format support

MD5 and SHA1 hash files from UNIX, Linux, Mac and Solaris, as well as a myriad of legacy Windows and DOS MD5 formats, in fact, every hash file I've ever come across, is supported. Throw any old MD5sum at checksum, and you'll get results. And if you don't (*gasp*), Send Me That FILE!

Work with hidden checksums.

If you don't like to see those checksum files, no problem; checksum can create and verify hidden checksum files as easily as visible ones. Like most options, as well as on-the-fly configuration via the options dialog (hold down SHIFT when you launch checksum), you can set this permanently by altering checksum.ini.

To create hidden checksums (same as attrib +h), use "h" on the command-line, or choose that option from the options dialog.

Don't worry about creating music playlists with the invisible option enabled, the playlists will be perfectly visible, only the checksums get hidden! (well, someone asked! ;o)

"Quiet" operation.

Handy if you are making scheduled items, etc, and want to disable all the dialogs. Simply add a 'q'.

You can also set checksum to only pop up dialogs for "long operations". Just how long constitutes a long operation, is of course, up to you. The default is 0, so you get "SUCCESS!", even if it only took a millisecond. Check your ini for more wee tricks like this.

Audio alerts.

Unrelated to the "quiet" option (above), checksum can thoughtfully invoke your peecee speaker to notify you of any verification failures as they happen, as well as shorter double-pips on completion. You can even specify the exact KHz value for the beeps, whatever suits you best.

You can also assign WAV files for the success and failure sounds, if you prefer.

Drag-and-drop files, folders and drives onto checksum.

If you prefer to drag and drop things, you can keep checksum (or a shortcut to it) handy on your desktop/toolbars/sendto menu, and drag files or folders onto it for instant checksum creation. This works for verification, too; if you drag a hash file onto checksum, its hashes are instantly verified.

Note: like regular menu activation, you can use the SHIFT key to pop-up the options dialog at launch-time. You can also drag and drop files and folders onto the one-shot options dialogs, to have their paths automatically inserted for you.

User preferences are stored in a plain text Windows^® ini file.

You can look at it, edit it, back it up, script with it, and handle it. Lots of things can be tweaked and set from here, though 99.36% of people will probably find the defaults are just fine, and the one-shot option dialogs handle everything else they could ever need. But if you are a more advanced user, with special requirements, chances are checksum has a setting just for you. Click here to find out more about checksum.ini

Comprehensive set of command-line switches.

Normally with checksum, you simply click-and-go; but checksum also accepts a large number of command-line switches. If you are creating a custom front-end, modifying your explorer context menu commands, or creating a custom scheduled task, take a look at checksum's many switches. For lots more details, see here.

If you simply have some special task to perform, it can probably be achieved via the one-shot options dialog.

That's a lot of features! And it's not even them all!

Legacy and cross-platform MD5/SHA1 file formats that checksum can handle..

If you look inside any MD5/SHA1 checksum file - it's plain text - you find all sorts of things.
Here's what a regular (MD5) checksum file looks like..

01805fe7528f0d98c595ba97b798717a *01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3

Each line begins with the MD5/SHA1 digest (hash), followed by a space, then an asterisk, then the filename. It's a clear format, flexible, relatively fool-proof ("*" is not allowed on any file system), and well supported.

Other formats I've come across..

single file single MD5/SHA1 hash types - these necessarily have the same name as the file, with ".md5" or ".sha1" extension added, and are often hand-made by system admins, or else piped from a shell md5/sha command) ..

01805fe7528f0d98c595ba97b798717a
4988ae20125db807143f84dbe09df9782c3c033a

space delimited hashes (before we figured out the clever asterisk)..

01805fe7528f0d98c595ba97b798717a 01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3
4988ae20125db807143f84dbe09df9782c3c033a 01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3

double-space delimited hashes (just silly, really)..
Believe it or not, this is the de-facto standard for md5 files, mainly because it's the output from the UNIX md5sum/sha1sum command in 'text' mode, which amazingly; is the default setting. By the way; md5sum's "-b" or "--binary" switch overrides this insanity.

01805fe7528f0d98c595ba97b798717a 01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3
4988ae20125db807143f84dbe09df9782c3c033a 01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3

back-to-front hashes in parenthesis - this is quite a common format around the UNIX/Solaris archives of the world (it's the output from openssl dgst command) ..

MD5(01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3)= 01805fe7528f0d98c595ba97b798717a or..
MD5 (01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3) = 01805fe7528f0d98c595ba97b798717a even..
SHA1(01 - Stygian Vista (radio controlled).mp3)= 4988ae20125db807143f84dbe09df9782c3c033a

checksum supports verification of all these formats with ease, so feel free to point it at any old folder structure, Linux CD, whatever, or any .md5 or .sha1 files you have lying around, and get results.

And in case the above track names got you googled here, yes, checksum also works great in Microsoft^® Vista, and Windows 7 of course. ;o)

simple checksum

Installed along with checksum is checksum's little brother app, "simple checksum", a supremely simple, handy, free, and highly cute drag-and-drop desktop checksumming tool; for all those "wee" hashing tasks..

Drop a file onto simple checksum, get an instant MD5 or SHA-1 hash readout.

Drop two files, and get an instant MD5 or SHA-1 file compare.

And that works from your "SendTo" menu, too (select two files - SendTo simple checksum.. instant file compare), as well as drag and drop onto simple checksum itself, or a shortcut to simple checksum. Packed with intuitive HotKeys and time-saving automatic settings, simple checksum is Very Handy Indeed!

Check it out for free..

checksum download

Feel free to download and use checksum..

NOTE: If your Anti-Virus software detects anything in this software, I recommend you switch to an Anti-Virus that isn't brain-dead. If you DO discover an actual virus, malware, trojan, or anything of that nature inside this software, please mail me, and I will send you a cheque for a Million Pounds, as a reward.

download checksum

LIVE MD5+SHA1 Multi-Hashes..

# made with checksum..  point-and-click hashing for windows.
# from corz.org.. http://corz.org/windows/software/checksum/
#
f396abec141a50321caa995665db2986 *checksum.zip
b1b456df092db9e2dd752a7ed50b72598451d872 *checksum.zip

A ßeta is also available.

If you want the latest bug-fixes and features, grab this..

download checksum beta

LIVE MD5+SHA1 Multi-Hashes..

# made with checksum..  point-and-click hashing for windows.
# from corz.org.. http://corz.org/windows/software/checksum/
#
7024ccb56480d868b82127e53bdb7a6e *checksum_1.2b.zip
52c83b9c396d30f474b6eff6cc625b2311158be1 *checksum_1.2b.zip

itstory.
aka. 'version info', aka. 'changes'..

This is usually bang-up-to-date, and will keep you informed if you are messing around with the latest beta, and let you know what's coming up next. Note: it was getting a bit long to include here in the main page, so now there's a link to the original document, instead..

itstory is here

cbparser powered comments..

previous comments (fifteen pages) show all comments

gr - 10.07.11 5:28 pm

Love your product. Been using it a while now. Just sent you some money (sorry it's so trivial).

I have the same issue as Dr Bunsen. I am using Checksum to verify all my older photos. They go back 20 years and there are 53,000 of them in folders by year taken.

Although I do off-site verified backup of these old pictures on a yearly basis, I don't know if a few bits got damaged in one or more pictures so your utility is very helpful to me. If a file or files get damaged or lost your utility will let me know and I can then decide to first get a new hard drive (as I assume lost bits are a sign the drive is going), copy the files to the new drive, verify and restore all damaged/lost files from my backups so that future backups won't be backing up damaged photos.

The problem is that I occasionally edit or rename photos taken even many years ago. I also use your utility on this year's photos which are even more dynamic. I often go in and fix the dark photos, delete duplicates, etc. When I run your utility I get warnings about sporadic photos that I've edited, deleted or renamed. I have to check each one in the log, then rehash the whole folder. Often it's obvious that the file changed due to the date alone but we can't trust that. I guess ideally the utility should stop, pop up the file in a way that I can open it, and then an option to request that the file have its hash updated.

Dr Bunsen's suggestions are reasonable also.

I'm sure you could find another solution that would help this issue.

I'm thinking about this. Much more thought will be required. Popping up dialogs is fine, but what if 1000 files have changed? Ouch! And so on... ;o) Cor

sdfds - 15.07.11 1:57 am

This looks like an interesting tool. A few suggestions:

First, get rid of the mp3 playlist generation feautre, and make it in to a standalone utility. It's obviously completely unrelated feature-creep that has not place in a checksumming utility.

You are wrong; I personally hash all my album rips and create playlists at the exact same time. If you don't like the functionality, don't use it; it's just a switch.

Second, please allow the standalone checksumming utility to simply and directly send the checksum to the clipboard.. bonus points for not producing any other type of output, not even a window.. though perhaps a very brief "onscreen display" indicator that the checksum had been calculated would be nice to have as an option.

See "simple checksum", included with checksum. ;o) Cor

Finally, it would be good if there was an option to send the checksum(s) to VirusTotal and have the results displayed on a web page in the user's default browser.

mnemotronic - 08.08.11 10:27 pm

I would like a way to select 2 or more files in Explorer (using Win 7 64 bit), right-click, and get one of two dialogs:
"compared files and yes, they are all the same"
or
"compared files, and they are different. here are the checksums...."

I agree with previous poster about removing the MP3 player functionality. I like the idea about sending directly to clipboard.

simple checksum (included with checksum) already does ALL this, and more. Check it out. ;o) Cor

Kenneth - 09.08.11 4:46 am

I'm looking for a portable MD5 checker and yours is absolutely great. However it skipped all file names in Unicode. Wish to see a fix to that. Appreciate your work!

It works on all my weird file names. If it doesn't work on yours, PLEASE paste them here! (or better yet, mail me) ;o) Cor

Jinx Dojo - 14.08.11 7:17 pm

This is by far the best candidate to replace the many random checksum generators out there. The unified hash idea is a great one, and checksum's context menu and options dialog makes creating hash files much easier.

However, there are still quite a few issues that will impede checksum from taking over:

1) It is not open source.

1a) While I understand that Corz deserves some contribution for his work, I think that the futures of author-driven development tend to go defunct. Open source ensures the project can continue if the developer loses interest (as is the case with so many such programs).

This isn't going to happen any time soon, sorry. (pretty much everything else I've done has been open-source, enjoy!)

1b) Additionally, open source is the only way to create an open standard for the unified hash file. Currently, there is no indication of the type of hash provided, and it must be chosen based on length. There must be a standard to indicate each type of hash (such as the "urn:sha1:" sequence). Of course, backward compatibility can be maintained by also simultaneously generating regulard md5/sha1/sfv files. The ".hash" file needs an expandable standard.

By length works fine.

1c) Cross-platform capability. Open source could help to create cross-platform versions of the software, which will promote the standards it creates.

I created a Linux beta version some time ago, check my devblog.

2) Not enough hashing algorithms. The unified hash file is a great idea, but without more hashing algorithms, it doesn't serve nearly as much of a purpose. FSumFrontEnd provides plenty of algorithms, but has no context menus and is not being actively developed. Checksum could use Fsum to obtain further algorithms.

This is file hashing, not file encryption. SHA256, maybe SHA512 will find there way into checksum, but I'm not going to get silly; there's simply no need.

3) Context menu customization. Cascading context menus are a must. In addition, this would allow the user to select the hash algorithm (or group thereof) from the menu itself (a la hkSFV). My personal dream is to be able to setup a custom group of hashes so that I can right click, select checksum for a cascade, and select "Create SFV/MD5/SHA1/HASH" to create everything necessary as defined by the group (i.e. create all of them simultaneously).

We also still need that divider fix. smiley for :)

Surely no one enables the divider!

There are many other suggestions (some in these comments, some I have reserved in my brain), but these are the ones I feel will most affect Checksum's adoption as the premier hashing client. Please consider all of this and feel free to e-mail me.

I really do appreciate your work on Checksum and hope it can be developed into the best hashing client. Thank you.

Thanks. I believe it already is the best! But worry not, there's more to come. ;o) Cor

skippideedoodaa - 17.08.11 1:39 am

This is nice software, but it hasn't been updated since 2009. It needs to be open sourced so development can continue, especially on more than just windows.

menow - 19.08.11 6:18 pm

Just want to try it out

Disappointed - 26.08.11 3:16 am

The uninstaller in Win 7 does not work at all.

Areyal - 28.08.11 9:02 pm

Hi all,

I'm very impressed with this program.
I was looking to check my files before I do backups or copy and this is a ideal tool

Talking about SILENT DATA CORRUPTION:
If CHECKSUM could alert about which files not only have changed but also which ones have changed and still preserve the same modification DATE they had when hash files were created, this would be the only tool against silent data corruption.

This way we could know which files were corrupted by physical drives failures or virus, and so these files could be repaired from a backup copy.

PS. All was Ok with installer in Windows 7 64 bit

I have been considering ways to incorporate this sort of functionality into checksum; something like adding a comment line along with each individual hash with exactly this information seems to be the best way forward (other hashing programs would ignore it, one hopes). Of course it would add processing time at each end so would definitely be optional. ;o) Cor

Ryobi - 29.08.11 9:25 pm

PLEASE don't remove the playlist feature. I use this every day. Thnx!

Don't worry, it's here to stay. ;o) Cor

Phill - 02.09.11 7:31 am

Jolly good ware. Been using it for a year and a half now, now my downloaded programs only crash if they have bugs.
Also the GUI matches my shirt.

I actualy modelled the GUI on your shirt. ;o) Cor

Jeff - 03.09.11 8:43 pm

09/03/11 - McAfee reports that hashDROP has the Artemis! trojan virus

Rich - 14.09.11 9:34 pm

Do you by chance have an application hash repository of known good hash files/applications? We're looking to add to ours and are interested in finding other sources. We typically prefer the hash generated directly from the publisher for provenance reasons, but we also gen hashes from other sources and simply give those a lower rating, etc. Anyway, if you or if you know someone that has a hash repository, please send them my way. We're happy to compensate accordingly.

I don't, but I'm pretty sure most of those virus checking sites do (i.e. virustotal.com) ;o) Cor

problemreporter - 18.09.11 10:00 am

Don' work on file with this russian name:

Португальский.djvu

but still a very good hash application though. I'm also "forced" to write my own hash application for some of those "small" problems.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll look into it. ;o) Cor

Jon - 04.10.11 9:12 am

Doesn't work. Windows 7 32-bit. No right-click context menus.

KenK - 24.10.11 2:38 pm

This program is great. I love the unconventional flexibility.
I have a massive collection of files (over 8tb) and needed to keep tabs on it.
- Anything go missing or get corrupted?
- Do my backup copies match original? Easier to transport and compare checksums than compare 8tb over a network.
I wrote a fancy BAT file that looks for errors and adds in new files. It reports overall success via HTML formatted email. I only used this program, sendEmail and the BAT I wrote.
Big question: Do you have a list of the ErrorLevel's you used in checksum??? It's great that you used return codes so we can differentiate conditions so I can decide what is a problem or not. But without the definitions I can only create problems and capture the return code. I'm sure there are MANY more I'm missing.

There is no published list of the codes at this time, so here's the exit codes for the current (1.1.4.0) version (there have been a few added/changed in the next version)..

-9 = cancelled out of sync/options dialog
-5 = nothing to do
-2 = there were verify errors
-1 = checksum.ini is missing or.. read-only media was encountered
(initially, this was the only non-success exit code)
0 = normal exit
1 = attempted to recurse a regular file
2 = nothing to check
3 = asked to verify a non-hash file
4 = checksum launched with no parameters
5 = process already running (and disallowed in checksum.ini)
6 = asked to hash a non-existent path

I realize they are somewhat haphazard, hopefully the next version will see them attain some logical order. Have fun!

;o) Cor

VorLon - 31.10.11 3:27 am

Hi Cor,

Just like to say that I'm still using CheckSum regularly and the small sum I paid for two licences has to be the best software purchase/s I have ever made.

Checked out your blog (last one March 2011, I think). CONGRATULATIONS on the new edition to the family.

Always look out to see if you have come up with any new software gems, but appreciate that you must be mega busy at present. All the best mate.

Vor

P.S. @Jeff (above). If you downloaded CheckSum from this site, you will undoubtedly find your AntiVirus software product is generating a "False Positive". This means it is reading the Checksum code as something malicious when it is Not.
If you want reassurance I suggest yo head over to VirusTotal.com http://www.virustotal.com/ where you can upload the whole checksum disribution zip file (or seperately) and allow 40+ (last time I checked) up-to-date current market AntiVirus Scanners to check it. All the market leaders are there, ie Kaspersky, Norton and so on.
You will find that most of the AV products find the file/s CLEAN and often if there is a query it will be of scanners using the same scanning engine skewing the results.

Thanks for your kind words, VorLon!

And yes, with two extra mouths to feed, my time is somewhat limited! But be assured, checksum is not forgotten! ;o) Cor

bry - 16.11.11 2:44 am

Hi Cor, May I ask if can I exclude a file here lets say for example. I want to Hash Folder1, i have 5 files(a,b,c,d,e files) iniside in it.. but I want to exclude 'c' file in comparing. Is it possible? Thanks.. smiley for :D

Firstly, I'll disregard the bit about "comparing"; for that you want two files and "simple checksum" (checksum's wee drag&drop brother, which is installed along with checksum).

For excluding your "c" file from the regular checksum process, there are two ways..

If this is a one time deal, simply hold <SHIFT> when you launch checksum to pop up the one-shot options and use a (standard Windows) file mask that includes everything except the "c", in this case: a,b,d,e

If this "c" file is one you always want to avoid, or want to avoid for a great many checksum tasks, drop it into your ignore_files preference inside checksum.ini..

ignore_files=desktop.ini,folder.jpg,.desktop,.directory,thumbs.db,c

;o) Cor

Pat - 21.11.11 8:09 am

Hi Cor, I would like to know if it's possible to have a log for all the hash values of the files of main folder to hash even files inside the subfolders.? for example Im about to Hash the Main folder that includes 2 subfolders. each folder have 2 files. After i create hash.. there will be a log in Main folder that will list all the hash values of Files inside Main folder and also the files inside the subfolders.. Thanks Cor..

.. and all the subfolders inside that and so on, all the way through the tree. Yes! checksum's default behaviour is to create or verify ALL subfolders. Once installed, you can right-click and go!

You can also choose to have those hashes stored..

in one big "root" .hash file containing ALL the hashes
(in the root, this behaviour sounds most like what you are after)
in a single .hash file for each and every folder in the tree.
(containing hashes for all the files in that one folder - this is the default behaviour)
in individual .hash files, one for every single file

Hold down the <shift> key when you launch checksum (from your explorer context menu) for lots more options.

Have fun!
;o) Cor

ps. the new beta is almost ready smiley for :cool:

Pat - 23.11.11 6:46 am

Thanks Cor.
Im really enjoying using Checksum.
More power to you.. smiley for :D

opera - 27.12.11 3:32 am

Hi -- downloads of the checksum files using the browser Opera 11.60 (32 bit) under Windows 7 (64 bit) are incomplete:

12/27/2011 03:20 AM 3,076 checksum.zip
12/27/2011 03:15 AM 3,094 checksum_1.2b.zip

About Opera
Version information
Version
11.60
Build
1185
Platform
Win32
System
Windows 7
XHTML+Voice
Plug-in not loaded

downloads using the browser Firefox Nightly 12.0a1 (2011-12-26) are complete and functional

12/27/2011 03:22 AM 1,094,829 checksum.zip
12/27/2011 03:22 AM 1,176,397 checksum_1.2b.zip

If you throw the failed "zip" files into a text editor, you will probably find they are, in fact, web pages, most likely explaining what went wrong with Opera. I'd like to know, too. ;o) Cor

name: (just make it up!)

email: (OPTIONAL. Won't be shown)

comment:

text here..

button to undo the last javascript change

headers..
six five four three two

cbparser quick bbcode guide..

Most common bbtags are supported, and with cbparser's InfiniTags™ you can pretty much just make up tags as you go along. If cbparser can construct valid xhtml tags out of them, it will. Experimentation is the key, and preview often.

A few bbcode examples..
[b]bold[/b], [i]italic[/i], [big]big[/big], [sm]small[/sm], [img]http://foo.com/image.png[/img], [code]code[/code], [url="http://foo.com" title="foo!"]foo U![/url], and more.. To post code with indentation and/or strange characters, .htaccess, etc., use [pre][/pre] tags.

checksum a point-and-click sha1 and md5 hashing application for windows..