How to find out if your iso is or isn't corrupt by md5 checking

[balding_parrot]

WINDOWS

download hashcalc from

SlavaSoft HashCalc - Hash, CRC, and HMAC Calculator

Its a free tool

Install it if it needs it

open hashcalc
uncheck all the checkboxes except md5
change data format to file
in the data box at the right hand side is a button with 3 dots in click it now navigate to where you downloaded your .iso or .zip and select it and click open

now press calculate
after a few seconds (or more depending on your computer speed) there will be a string next to the md5

now compare that to the md5 hash on the download page

if they are the same then your iso or zip is ok, if not the you need to download it again

the hash should be:

Name:: bt4-final.iso
Size: 1570 MB
MD5: af139d2a085978618dc53cabc67b9269

Name:: bt4-final-vm.zip
Size: 2000 MB
MD5: 733b47fad1d56d31bc63c16b3706a11c


LINUX

make sure that .iso or zip is somewhere easy to navigate to eg \root

Open a console Window and navigate to that folder and type

md5sum <name of file>

after a few seconds you will get a response

the hash should be:

Name:: bt4-final.iso
Size: 1570 MB
MD5: af139d2a085978618dc53cabc67b9269

Name:: bt4-final-vm.zip
Size: 2000 MB
MD5: 733b47fad1d56d31bc63c16b3706a11c


as long as this is the same as the hash should be, you are good to go.


BTW these steps will work for any file that you need to check the md5 for.

[br0c07]

Hi balding_parrot, I would just add that md5sum also work on OS X, just open Terminal, type md5sum and drag & drop the file to the terminal windows.

[balding_parrot]

Thanks for that addition.

I should also add that you should check with the MD5's listed on the download page as they will always be updated to the correct ones for the file, whereas this page will become outdated and will not always have the correct MD5

[terrium]

balding_parrot, the SlavaSoft HashCalc site seems to have been shut down. I searched for any alternate or mirror download sites, but all 12 I found linked directly to the main site's download.

I wanted to recommend a great alternative that I've used for a while called HashTab. It integrates into the windows shell and adds a new "File Hashes" tab to every files' Properties window.



You can customize which hashes it will generate, and it supports Adler32, CRC32, HAVAL, MD2, MD4, MD5, RIPEMD-128, RIPEMD-256, RIPEMD-320, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, Tiger, and Whirlpool hashing. It's pretty quick, and it took about 10 seconds to generate all the hashes for the BackTrack ISO.

HashTab Direct Download Link (Windows)

Main website: http://beeblebrox.org/hashtab/

[Gitsnik]

Hi balding_parrot, I would just add that md5sum also work on OS X, just open Terminal, type md5sum and drag & drop the file to the terminal windows.

Watch out for that as you may lose the md5sum in later development versions (other "staple" programs have gone missing from .5 to .6).

A more unix-y correct solution is actually: openssl md5 bt4-final.iso

Which will work more across the board than the other. And will also let you do: openssl sha1 bt4-final.iso to verify the second hash (should the team ever put them both up to ensure nobody is collisioning your downloads )

[hhmatt]

Windows cli alternative. I've used this tool for a while on windows platforms and it has served me well. Can be run from remote shell if you have to.

MD5sums for Windows

Unzip the file.
Change to dir location of md5sums.
md5sums.exe C:\bt4-final.iso
Check hash.

[insomnia]

Another excellent tool, which inspects integrity of the iso and makes a USB install key (Fully supports BT4)
Is LinuxliveUSB (.com)

It's similar to unetbootin but offers persistence as well.

LinuxLive USB Creator is currently supporting these Linuxes :

* Ubuntu / Kubuntu / Xubuntu 9.10 & 9.04 Desktop CD
* Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10
* Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 2new
* BackTrack 4 Finalnew
* CentOS 5.4 *
* Debian Live 5.0.2 Gnome/KDE/LXDE/xFce *
* Damn Small linux 4.4.10 *
* Puppy Linux 4.3.1 *
* Toutou Linux 4.1.2 *
* Gparted Live 0.4.6-1 *
* Clonezilla 1.2.3-27updated *
* Fedora 11 & 12 (KDE / Gnome) Live CD
* Kuki 2.8
* Mint 7 & 8 Main Edition
* Crunchbang 9.04 Standard & Lite Editions
* Super OS 9.04
* Tiny Core 2.7updated
* Slitaz 2.0 *
* Parted Magic 4.6 *
* PCLinuxOS *
* Slax
* gNewSense *
* Grml 2009.10 *
* KNOPPIX 6.2
* Gentoo Live DVD 10.1new *
* Sabayon Linux 5.1 (Gnome/KDE)new *
* xPud 0.9.2new *
* SystemRescueCD 1.3.3new *
* Ophcrack XP & Vista 2.3.1new *
* .IMG file **

[Amorstus]

Hi balding_parrot, I would just add that md5sum also work on OS X, just open Terminal, type md5sum and drag & drop the file to the terminal windows.

Thought I would post a quick correction here. The command is "md5" (no quotes) and then drag the file in and press return or enter. This is what it is at least on version 10.6.2.