File Hashes can be useful to compare files, for example after downloading a file from a download portal that is displaying the hashes of the download on the website or on the local computer to ensure that a file has not been changed in the meantime.
Hash My Files is a software developed by Nirsoft that calculates and displays the MD5 and SHA1 hashes of selected files. Those files can be selected in Windows Explorer or by opening them directly in the software. The Explorer option has to be enabled in Hash My Files by checking the Enable Explorer Context Menu entry in the Options menu.
If a folder is selected hashes for all files in the folder will be generated and displayed. This list can be saved in various formats including html, txt and xml.
As usual command line options are available as well which can be used to automate the generation of hashes for specific files. Those saved hashes could then be compared with previous versions.
Related posts:
Check MD5 HashesFile Integrity Check
Send Torrents and hashes from multiple computers to one Server
Check File Integrity With HashTab
Verify File Integrity Of Backups
Verify the integrity and authenticity of files
Detect Duplicates with Clone Spy
Firefox Hash Algorithm Check
You might also want to look at DigestIT 2004 available from http://www.kennethballard.com
It does most of the above via a context menu. Select your file or files and right click. It the easiest SHA1/MD5 utility I’ve ever found.
Fsum Frontend – the best
http://fsumfe.sourceforge.net/index.php
Fsum is pretty cool but for those who need something simple yet effective
Check out Hashtab
http://beeblebrox.org/hashtab/
Hashtab for me everytime