File Integrity Utility

When you download files from the internet, it can sometimes be hard to know whether or not they have been corrupted. And by that, we don’t mean only those infected by malicious programs, but any file that has been modified in any way, and would therefore not run as expected.

One simple way to verify the file’s integrity is to calculate its hash value by using File Integrity Utility.

All files are unique and made so by the individual data they contain. If you apply certain algorithms (also known as cryptographic hash functions) to that data, you can calculate a hash value that is unique to a certain file. A hash value appears as a long string of numbers and letters. However, if a file is modified in any way, it will generate a different hash value when you apply the same algorithm.

How can you be sure that the file on your computer is the same file provided by the developer? Well, in some cases, developers will supply some unique hash values for the files that they make available. You can then, for example, compare the string values that you calculated using File Integrity Security with the ones displayed on a developer’s website.

The application can use ten hash functions to generate string values for a single file. First select which of the ten algorithms you want to use, then browse for the file or simply drag and drop it in the application’s window. You’ll instantly receive the hash values you seek, and you’ll be able to copy them and compare them to the ones provided by the developers (if any).

However, the program can’t make a comparison all by itself; you can’t, for instance, paste a hash value from a developer’s website into File Integrity Utility and compare it to what you got from using an algorithm. If this is the only tool you’re using, you’ll have to check the numbers and letters from the string values by yourself.

One of the app's useful features is that it will appear in the context menu after you install it. You’ll thus be able to right-click any file and then click Check File Integrity. While it’s nothing fancy, File Integrity Utility is a quick tool that can help you detect file corruption.