Fortra uses cryptographic hash functions to help verify the integrity of product downloads. You can click the "MD5" link adjacent to a Fortra download to reveal its hash value.

The MD5 message-digest algorithm is a widely used hash function producing a 128-bit (16-byte) hash value, typically expressed as a 32-digit hexadecimal number. While labeled "MD5" on the product download pages, the checksum hash values are calculated using the following algorithms: MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, and SHA-512. Checksums are used in a wide variety of cryptographic applications, and in the software industry at large, to provide some assurance that a transferred file has arrived intact.

The hash value is a pre-computed checksum that can be compared with the checksum of the downloaded file to verify the file has not been compromised during the transfer. There are many hash checkers available on the web that allow you to do this. They can be found for any operating system that uses any of these algorithms. Some are GUI based and others are command line driven. Two examples are listed below.

MD5 Checksum Utilities

MD5 & SHA Checksum Utility is a standalone freeware tool that generates and verifies cryptographic hashes in MD5, and includes an easy-to-use GUI.

md5deep is an example of a command line, open-source Windows MD5 checking program. Once you have installed it, you can use the md5deep.exe to calculate the hash (e.g. md5deep.exe HS_CD1_2014_APRIL30.iso). Compare that string with the one provided for the Fortra download. Most programs like md5deep allow you to check one or more MD5 hash strings from a file containing known hashes. 

Review the documentation for the above tools for additional information.

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