Snap MD5

Snap MD5 is a lightweight and portable application you can use to calculate the MD5 and SHA1 checksums of any files, regardless of their format. It can also be used to compare hashes to figure out if two files are identical or different.

The entire program's wrapped in a single .exe file that you can copy to a preferred directory on the disk or to a USB flash drive, in order to seamlessly run it on any PC with minimum effort and no previous setup. It doesn't need DLLs to work properly, create files on the disk without your permission, or modify system registry settings.

The user-friendly GUI is made from a small window with a neatly structured layout, where you can indicate a file to automatically calculate and display its MD5 and SHA1 signature.

They can be matched against another hash copied to the Clipboard. Snap MD5 supports a Clipboard live monitoring tool, so it immediately compares hashes. You can easily find out if the two alphanumerical values match by color: green or red.

Apart from the fact that you can reset everything to default, there are no other notable options available. Keyboard shortcuts are supported.

It didn't put a strain on the computer's performance in our tests, thanks to the fact that it needed a low amount of CPU and RAM to work properly. Hashes were calculated and compared quickly, and the app didn't cause the operating system to hang, crash or show error messages.

Although it doesn't have a particularly rich set of options and customization preferences, Snap MD5 offers a practical and approachable solution towards identifying and comparing MD5 and SHA1 checksums. Plus, it's free to use.