FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions


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Issue:

    How do I calculate / verify the MD5 or SHA1 hashes on a file?

Possible Solutions:

    To assist users who are concerned about the security of the files they are downloading from Eigenvector Research's website, we provide "security hashes" of all download files. A hash is a checksum which helps assure that the file you received is the same as the one we built and your download request was not intercepted by a 3rd party and infected with a virus (for example).

    On the Download page of our website, we report the MD5 and SHA1 hashes for each file available for download. Once you download a file, you can confirm you received a valid, complete, unadulterated copy by checking that you get the same checksum hashes on the file. The method to calculate these hashes depends on the operating system you are running:

    Windows


    There are numerous programs to calculate MD5 and SHA1 hashes. We have confirmed that the algorithm we use matches the results obtained when using the Microsoft-supplied "Fciv" program. This is available from Microsoft's website through one of these two Knowledge base articles:


    Download the Fciv application and follow the directions on those knowledge-base pages to calculate the MD5 and SHA1 checksums of any file.

    Note also that our EXE-based installers also verify the contents of the files being installed. If the internally-stored checksums do not match the EXE contents, the installer will fail with a warning that the file is corrupt.

    Linux/MAC


    The commonly available "openssl" program can be used to calculate the checksums using the commands:
      openssl md5 filename.ext
openssl sha1 filename.ext
    where filename.ext is the full filename (including path if necessary) of the downloaded file.


Still having problems? Check our documentation Wiki or try writing our helpdesk at helpdesk@eigenvector.com