- 1). Find the original checksum. This is usually provided by the software provider, or by the admin who was in charge when the data was stored.
- 2). Download an MD5 checksum calculator. MD5 is the most common checksum algorithm used online and in data storage. Three free versions are provided in the resources below.
- 3). Find the piece of data, program or file whose checksum you want to check.
- 4). Point the software downloaded in Step 2 to the file in Step 3. A resulting checksum file will be generated.
- 5). Compare the original checksum to the generated checksum. If they match, the data is exactly the same as in the original version. If they don't match, then the integrity of the data has been compromised.
- 6). To use a checksum algorithm in your own program, download a library with the specific algorithm to incorporate it into your own code.
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