How to calculate MD5 checksums in Windows
Posted: Sat 24 Mar 2007, 21:15
One of the problems for the new Puppy Linux user is to be able to checksum the file he/she has just downloaded. There are a number of posts in this forum and in the 2.14 manual that describe how to do this in Linux or in DOS. But the new Puppy user eager to try it has probably downloaded in Windows and does not have Linux running on a PC (and a DOS box is not user-friendly). It would be nice to verify the MD5 sum before burning the ISO which will probably be done with Nero or equivalent software that came with the burner. A Google search will turn up a dozen or more MD5 sum utilities for Unix, Linux, DOS, Windows etc. The Windows MD5 sum program I use and recommend is Karen's Hasher v 2.2.1, free at www.karenware.com. This supports drag and drop the file into the window that opens. It will handle multiple files and even folders. A button pastes the MD5sum into the clipboard. And there is a choice of checksums: MD5, SHA-1 SHA-224 and more.
The only caveat is that since all her utilities are written in VB6 the VB6 runtime must be installed on the PC before the utility will work - it is not large, about 1MB. The VB6 runtime is also available on her download pages.
Finally, a note for those new to downloading large files that have MD5sums. They must also download the MD5sum which is invariably a .txt file and save it somewhere to have it available when the MD5 is computed.
Simple things but not obvious if you are doing it for the first time.
The only caveat is that since all her utilities are written in VB6 the VB6 runtime must be installed on the PC before the utility will work - it is not large, about 1MB. The VB6 runtime is also available on her download pages.
Finally, a note for those new to downloading large files that have MD5sums. They must also download the MD5sum which is invariably a .txt file and save it somewhere to have it available when the MD5 is computed.
Simple things but not obvious if you are doing it for the first time.
