The Correct Way of Using Windows MD5 Checker and Erasing Duplicate Files December 31, 2020June 3, 2021 Raza Ali Kazmi Duplicate Data, Sorcim Articles Most of us download files through the web quite regularly. If you are one of those people, you may have heard of the Windows MD5 checker for checking the downloaded files. However, you may be unfamiliar with the idea behind file hashing algorithms. Only software engineers and math students know about the MD5 checksum. Today, we will help you get familiar with the process and concept behind checksum and its importance. In the second half of this guide, we will discuss ways you can delete duplicate files through Windows MD5 Checker. Continue reading! Product Spotlight (Duplicate Files): Use Sorcim’s Clone Files Checker to clean empty folder and remove 1000s of duplicate documents in your PC. Clone Files Checker follows Google Software Principles. It will not ask you to provide email address to download the software. A quick overview of Checksum and how to use it The checksum is known as an alpha-numeric string. Its purpose is to point out all the files that may be identical to one another. It involves a miscellaneous bunch of characters of a limited length. Even if your file is as small as only 30 characters or as large as 3000 characters, the checksum’s character length will still remain the same. The only scenario where your checksum characters will be different is when you alter the contents inside your file or add even a minor extra space. Checksums are not to be mistaken for file encryptions as file encryptions is another technology that is used to cipher & decipher the information. It also lessens the amount of your text. There is no way to encrypt a text of 3000 characters to a 20 character checksum & later have it deciphered to its initial form. Checksums can not be used for compressing large-sized data into compact sizes or to transfer private data. Why is Checksum Important in Computing Below we have presented you with many scenarios where computing will be necessary for the checksum of a file: Verification of downloaded files Everyone has bad internet days when their internet connection might not be as strong as usual. This may be irritating especially if you have a huge file you need to download off the internet. With an already weak internet, peak hours only add to the frustration, as they suck up all the bandwidth. All of this results in a download at a turtle’s pace or it may also get interrupted and stopped mid-download. If all of this sounds way too familiar to you then Windows MD5 Checker will help you! It helps to confirm the progress of the downloaded files. Especially for files as large as 5 GB or above, It will help you verify whether or not the file was even downloaded completely. It is very common to verify a file when it comes to sharing large-sized files! Cyber Security It is always risky to download files from unreliable origins. It puts your PC at a high risk of destructive viruses and these programs can transfer malware, trojans, or steal your data as well. If you fear any files that you have downloaded from the internet might be troublesome, don’t worry, as you can just verify these files through the Windows MD5 Checker at any time. Recognizing Identical Files Evaluating a file’s checksum will help you differentiate between individual and identical files. If a computer is having problems running smoothly, it may be because it has maxed out on its storage. The biggest reason for this can be duplicate files. In order to dodge this issue, you must evaluate the file hashes which will help you search and erase duplicate files. It is definitely a wise decision to clean out your computer regularly in order to keep your PC’s performance smooth. The Right Way to Use It Following are the ways followed for the usage of Windows MD5 Checker for identifying duplicates and to computer file hashes: Get the MS Checksum Integrity Verifier After the download is complete, click twice on the downloaded file Agree to the License pop-up window by selecting Yes Select Browse, and then specify the folder you want to use for the extraction of files via Integrity Verifier Tool Click the OK button thrice The next step is to direct yourself to the folder from which you have taken out the files. Eg; MS MD5 Checker in this case Copy the fciv.exe file to C:\Windows\System32 directory A pop-up will ask you for approval, select Yes Search for Command Prompt in the search bar located on the taskbar Right-click and choose Run as administrator Use any of the commands below: Generate MD5 & SHA1 simultaneously You may initiate hashes simultaneously for a type of file. Moving forward, you will need to keep these hash values stored at a single place to conveniently compare them so that you can easily tell whether files are unique or duplicates. How you can do this: This can be done with one of the two methods listed below: Creating a database: By putting the internal functionality, make a database consisting of every checksum that you may have calculated. Storing it in an Excel Spreadsheet manually: If you want, your MD5 and/or SHA1 checksums can be stored in an Excel spreadsheet so that you can review them later on. Now that you have either made a self-generating, it is time that you review the checksums and compare between all hashes. If you see files with similar hashes, it means that they are identicals. Files having hashes that are unique are all originals. Keep a single original file separately in every duplicate group and relocate the remaining files to another folder on the hard disk. Potential Drawbacks Yes, you can easily use the Windows MD5 Checker in order to search for duplicates but it comes with potential issues. It remains the most suitable hashing choice for a bunch of dozen files only. When it comes to doing the same for about a hundred and over files, it may not perform up to its standards. In all honesty, if you opt to manually scan a bunch of files via the Windows MD5 Integrity Checker, you may be at it for hours since it will only consume your time. There is no option to hash all the files at once- this means that every file needs to be hashed separately and then save the outcome of all those files and review their hashes by yourself. This is just too time-consuming in our opinion. To add to this, Microsoft has also officially stopped supporting Windows MD5 Checker. This means that there is a fair chance of compatibility issues of the program with your PC and several tech issues like glitching while using the program. Also, you can not get any tech assistance for Windows MD5 Checker problems anymore as it has been discontinued by Microsoft. An Updated Option However, you can get many good alternatives! CFC is one of the best options to replace the Windows MDD5 Checker. Clone Files Checker– A program that automatically searches for duplicates and also self-generates the hash computing and cleaning in a matter of minutes. Procedure: Get the CFC program on your PC through the internet. Specify and add the folders needed to scan for duplicate files. Choose what type of scan you want to opt for. (Either custom scan or all file types). If you need to limit the extent of your search scan, use the custom file size settings. Begin the scanning process and let it take its time. Now your scan should be complete. Next, you can make all the duplicate erasing and hashing procedure automated. You can also either review every file and use the automatic file choosing method to group select and deselect your files. In the end, select the Select Action menu and click the Permanently Delete Duplicates Files option in order to erase all duplicates or you can just relocate them to another folder.