As technology progresses, it seems that we are continually downloading larger and larger files. The problem with download large files is that sometimes the file may get corrupt while downloading. Also, with the increase in file hosting websites, people are constantly uploading and mirroring popular files to download. The problem with downloading a file from an unofficial mirror is you don’t know if the file is the original (i.e it could have been tampered with before it was uploaded). To solve these two problems, file checksums are a popular way to test for file integrity, i.e. to make sure you downloaded the file properly or to make sure the file is in its original state.

How to use checksums is very easy. Just find out what the checksum (checksums can be of various types but MD5 and SHA-1 are the most popular ones) of the original file is (this information is usually available directly from the developer’s website or you can ask a reliable source) and compare it to the checksum you get from the file you downloaded. If the checksums match the file has been downloaded properly and/or the file has not been tampered with. The thing is, however, for some reason there is no reliable built in tool in Windows to find the checksums of files (none that I know of anyhow). So to help with the latter half of getting the checksum of the file you downloaded I am posting to tell you about an excellent free  tool by the name of Marxio File Checksum Verifier:

Marxio File Checksum Verifier (MFCV) is a simple and easy to use. What makes it so great and better than the competition? This…

• It allows you to select which checksum type you want: MD4, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, RIPEMD-128, RIPEMD-160, HAVAL 256, TIGER 192, and CRC32;
• You can drag + drop files (which you want to find the checksum of) onto MFCV program window or browse your computer for them;
• You can enter a checksum value (which you attained from the developer’s website or a reliable source) to allow MFCV to automatically compare it with the checksum value MFCV finds;
• MFCV allows you to copy to clipboard your results;
• You can add an entry in your right click context menu for quick access to checksums;
• MFCV is fast, standalone, and portable.

Check out how I used MFCV to determine, and compare, the MD5 checksum value of Paragon Partition Manager 9.5 Professional (a 119 MB file that was mirrored a thousand times over):

It took MFCV 4 seconds to find, compare, and return the results to me. Great program this is.

You can download Marxio File Checksum Verifier from the following link:

MFCV works on Windows Windows 2000/X/Vista/7

Click here to download Marxio File Checksum Verifier

Download link mirror (in case the developer’s website is down again)