How To Get an MD5 Sum

MD5 sums - also known as hashes - are very basic levels of protection.
they ensure that the new program you just downloaded is the real one, and not something else - like a virus - that someone posted on the web site.
say you just downloaded the latest version of ubuntu. you pop a cd into your drive, burn it on, and boot it up. but something is wrong its not booting linux, it's killing your computer! what did you forget to do? check the MD5 sum.
so how do you get the MD5 sum? It's very easy. on the website, usually in the download area it will have some text that says

MD5:fb3af44c21f1f68cc25fda7edb8c1bd3
(the ubuntu 6.06.1 hash)

or a link to the md5 sum

next, download the file but DON'T run it.
instead, calculate its MD5
to do this you will need and MD5 calculator.
an MD5 calculator is a program that calculates the MD5 hash of a file on your computer. then you can compare it to the one you got off the net.
I recommend MD5 summer because its free open source, and a stand alone.
I will now explain how get MD5's from MD5 summer.

1.) download MD5 summer here
2.) extract the file
3.)run it
it will ask you if you want to associate *.md5 with md5 summer
4.) select no
5.)in the browser window, find the folder that your ubuntu iso is in
6.)click create sums. select your ubuntu iso, and click ok
7.)same the file as md5summer.TXT this is very important step if you have trouble with computers. it makes it easy to read.
8.) look at the sum on the website, and look at the sum in the file. if they match, then you have a real copy.

it seems like a lot of trouble to go through, but this can save you from malware and other bad things.

if you have another md5 summer that you think works better, drop me a link

questions?
pointers?
typos?
death threats? (depreciated)

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