Verify the checksum of an installer file

Verify the checksum of an installer file

One of those regular items you see when downloading a file.

What’s that checksum, how to I check it?

Quick solution if you are on a Windows machine.

  • Open the folder that you’ve downloaded the file to – probably the download folder
  • Inside the path bar, type cmd, then press enter
Enter cmd into the path bar
  • You will now have a command window open that is already looking in the download folder.
  • Now type the following certutil -hashfile {file name you are checking goes here} {check type, as in MD5 or SHA1 for example}
  • eg certutil -hashfile myDownloadedFile.exe SHA1
  • This will now output something like the below with a SHA-1 check

You can now compare the long number with the number on the download page, if they do not match DO NOT INSTALL.

Other checks you can do depending on what the website is asking for are these –
Hash algorithms: MD2 MD4 MD5 SHA1 SHA256 SHA384 SHA512

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