Tutorials:Calculating Hash Sum

Introduction This guide will help to confirm you have exact copies of UBCD ISO to prevent any problems later down the road. This should be your FIRST step before continuing with any of the other Tutorials regarding the ISO. If you would like more information regarding Checksums/Hashsums please see the Wikipedia article. NOTE: If you can download through the torrent instead of HTTP/FTP, it can prevent you from having to check the ISO Checksum/Hashsum as it auto-checks the ISO. Thought, that being said, it still doesn't hurt to re-check. DISCLAIMER: The only trusted MD5/SHA1 Sums are also located on the downloads page. Windows 1. Freeware programs: Hashcalc (Requires installation) or Arpoon Checksum (No installation required). More options from this Softpedia list (Some freeware, may require installation). 2. After installation (or extraction for portable), drag ISO onto program (or desktop shortcut) and it will auto generate the MD5 Sum. Compare with download Page MD5/SHA1 Sum. Linux Ubuntu and similar flavors: 1. First open a terminal and goto the directory you downloaded the ISO into: cd download_directory 2. Then run the following command from within the download directory. md5sum UBCD###.iso 3. md5sum should then print out a single line after calculating the hash: CHECKSUM_HERE UBCD###.iso # = version number Checksum/Hashsum Doesn't Match? Your options are: 1. Re-download. Delete the ISO and download again, this time try choosing another mirror. Probably the easiest option that will work for everyone, only problem is on a slow connection could take forever (again). 2. Torrent. If you already know about torrents, the fastest way to get the correct copy, but more complicated, is to: 2a. Open the torrent file, located on the downloads page, in your favorite Bittorent program and start the download. 2b. Then stop the download, and copy the mismatched ISO to the download/temp location, overwriting the torrent download ISO. 2c. Followed by forcing the program to re-check the file. If after checking the file, if the ISO is anything less than 100% you will have to press the "play" or "start" button to continue downloading the rest of the ISO. 2d. After the file reaches 100%, as a precaution, re-check the Checksum using the instructions above to confirm. Shown is uTorrent (freeware) and right clicking on the torrent to "Force Re-Check". Note: There are many different Bittorent programs, please see documentation for your program if you are having issues.