HOWTO Check File Integrity?

How do you verify the integrity of file you downloaded from the Internet? If you’re using Windows 7/10 Operating System, here’s a simple step by step guide.

1. Download the File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) utility installer KB841290 from Microsoft website e.g. Windows-KB841290-x86-ENU.exe
2. Install FCIV. I normally save to my c:\tool folder. Of course, you can save it to whatever folder you prefer. I just want to be organize a little.
3. Then, I run “fciv [filename of file to check the integrity] -sha1“. I compare the result to the SHA1 information from the website, if they are match the file integrity is intact.

Here’s an example.

I downloaded the GPG4Win (gpg4win-2.3.3.exe) packages and check the SHA1 checksums (67e13c4f90ff6a70ad57bd31af64a238c9315308) on their website e.g. https://gpg4win.org/package-integrity.html.

SHA1 checksum
67e13c4f90ff6a70ad57bd31af64a238c9315308 gpg4win-2.3.3.exe
71a3ed36a8af2ef14c7ac4d2d25fa2fef9eaa13b gpg4win-light-2.3.3.exe
a105cc82d60a315a14a4f69ea783a83baa434e55 gpg4win-vanilla-2.3.3.exe
46349916d17854e90bc9fe311b280af359350236 gpg4win-src-2.3.3.exe
5fa6d34206f3b08f1fdee58b03db1dc06c627388 gpg4win-2.3.3.tar.bz2

Using File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) I run the following command.

C:\Tools>fciv e:\tools\gpg4win-2.3.3.exe -sha1 [Enter]
//
// File Checksum Integrity Verifier version 2.05.
//
67e13c4f90ff6a70ad57bd31af64a238c9315308 e:\tools\gpg4win-2.3.3.exe

Then, I check if the checksum result is the same.

That’s it.

For Linux operating system, simply use gpg utility to check the integrity of file.

Hate to download, why not use the Online tool from MD5file.com website.

Let’s use the BitShares client file for testing. As of writing this tutorial, here’s the current hash value. Using Windows installer, and take note the SHA256 value.

Step 01. Download the BitShares windows client.

Step 02. After downloading the file. Go to https://md5file.com/calculator website for us to verify the hash value of the file.

Step 03. Drag the file and it will compute the value of SHA256 and other selected method. Here’s the result, compare the value of SHA256 to the value in Step 01. If they are the same, meaning your downloaded file integrity is ok.

That’s how you check the file integrity. Post a comment below if you have any question.

Notes:

1. March 13, 2018 updated to add MD5file.com utility calculator website.
2. October 16, 2016 Published.