Md5

Md5 is a command-line application developed in Java, which gives you the possibility to find out the MD5 checksum of files.

This is a commonly used method for checking file integrity, especially when it comes to downloads. By comparing the MD5 values of two files, you can find out if they are actually the same file, even if they have different names and timestamps.

It's not necessary to install Md5 but you must have Java Runtime Environment on your computer or it won't work. If double-clicking the .jar file doesn't perform any action, then you can open a Command Prompt dialog in its directory (hold down Shift while right-clicking to view this entry in the context menu).

To call its process, type "java -jar md5.jar". Without entering other arguments, the tool shows the syntax to teach you what command to enter and determine MD5 hashes.

This can be done by entering "java -jar md5.jar filename.extension". You just have to specify the name and extension of the file whose MD5 you wish to learn.

The process shouldn't take long, depending on the file size, after which you can copy the alphanumerical value (and the corresponding file name) by pressing Enter, then paste the Clipboard contents in a text editor. In the following step, you can calculate additional checksums.

Unfortunately, this isn't simplified via batch support, as the developer hasn't added features for calculating the MD5 checksums of multiple files at the same time, so you're stuck with entering the syntax and name of each file.

On the other hand, you can compare the checksum of a file by specifying the second alphanumerical value. The syntax is "java -jar md5.jar filename.extension second_checksum".

If you have a plain text document saved with multiple MD5 values, you can look up the MD5 checksum of a file in that document. The syntax for this is "java -jar md5.jar filename.extension document.txt". The tool tells you if it finds a match and lets you know what it is.

We haven't come across any compatibility issues with the newest Windows or Java versions in our testing, although Md5 hasn't received updates for a long time.

It gives you a relatively simple means of calculating MD5 signatures, provided that you're comfortable with Java and the console environment. The tool can also compare a two checksums and find a hash in a specified text document.