Create and check file hashes with HashTab

Checking file hashes may seem like an arcane process, but it is still a good way to verify downloaded files before using them. Learn more about a tool that makes hash comparison a snap.

When downloading any large file, you are usually offered a hash comparison to validate the download. While this is common practice in the UNIX and Linux world, Windows administrators may be a little unfamiliar with the process. The good news is we can do it quite easily in Windows.
For MD5 checks, I use a free tool called HashTab, which allows you to do comparisons via a right-click on Windows platforms. HashTab supports the major cryptology hash types: MD5, SHA1, and CRC-32.
Once installed on Windows Servers, HashTab will appear when you right-click a file. The data will undergo the hash process and give a result. When you download a file that provides a hash, you can compare the file, as shown in the example of a successful comparison in Figure A.
Figure A

Larger files will take a moment to compute the hash for comparison; large .ISO files will only take a few seconds. Likewise, with HashTab, you can create MD5, SHA1, or CRC-32 hashes for large files that you distribute.
MD5 and SHA1 are the more popular hash types and are usually displayed in the following format:

(md5sum:d52a89ad7eb3d773797afb2059916b29)
(sha1sum:5b54a457249051ca63e94dc26abb7fe87d75ec4e)

With HashTab, providing hashes for your server content available for download can ensure the accuracy of transfer for larger files.