Before we head on to the actual process, here’s a quick explanation of the concept of checksum and why it holds significance. In the latter part of the article, we’ll discuss how to delete identical files with Windows MD5 Checker. Let’s begin.
What is Checksum? How Does it Work?
A checksum is an alphanumeric string produced by cryptographic file comparison algorithms. It is a fixed-character string that helps you identify whether a file is identical in nature to another file. A checksum usually contains a random set of characters with a fixed length.
No matter whether you hash a small file with only 20 characters or a large file with 2000 characters, the resulting checksum would still have the same character length. Hashing the same file over and again will produce the same checksum again without any change. Remember, if you modify the file contents or add just a little single extra space, the entire set of checksum characters would change.
But wait, do not confuse checksums with file encryptions. It is not yet another technology to encode and decode information or to shorten (compress) your text. You cannot encrypt a 2000 character text into a 16 character checksum and then decode it back to its original state. It doesn’t work like that. File checksums are not meant for transferring confidential information or for compressing larger data into smaller texts.
There are different circumstances when you will need to compute a file’s checksum. Here are some typical scenarios:
Validate your Downloaded Files
Internet connectivity issues are not uncommon. If you’re downloading a large file, constant Internet issues can surely irritate you in many ways. Your download may get worse during peak hours. The increased load on your bandwidth distribution can cause the download to become terribly slower or even stop in the middle for apparently no reason.
Windows MD5 Checker can help you verify the integrity of your downloaded files. If you’ve downloaded a large file (e.g. 5 GB), you may want to validate it to ensure that it is completely downloaded.
File validation is a common practice while sharing large files. The publishers of large Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, often provide a checksum of those files.
