19. FileCheck - Industrial Strength Checksums
NeoFinder is the very first disk cataloger for the Macintosh which is able to generate an industrial strength MD5 checksum for every file in a catalog.
We call that feature FileCheck and it is integrated nicely in NeoFinder.
This unique ability of NeoFinder is for example very useful for photographers who wish to ensure that all their precious photo files on any backup and archive disk are still fully readable and unchanged. It is also already used by computer forensics experts, as it is a much faster and affordable way than other specialised solutions in that area.
But this is of course also helpful for anyone who just wants to check for modifications of files on any disk.
If you enable FileCheck in the cataloging preferences in NeoFinder, every new catalog you create or update will contain this FileCheck value for every file. As this operation of course takes quite some time, as every file must be read and processed entirely, so this option is turned off by default, for better speed.
By using the context menu, you can then check:
- an entire catalog with all files in it
- a single file in a catalog
- a selection of files and folders in a catalog
If you verify the FileCheck values for an entire catalog, or multiple files, NeoFinder will even show you a window containing all files who did NOT pass the check, so you know exactly which files are damaged and need to be replaced.
Of course, NeoFinder also displays the actual MD5 FileCheck value for every file in the Inspector:
You can also copy the FileCheck string into the clipboard, using the Copy context menu for the file.
To see if a catalog contains the FileCheck values, select the catalog in LIBRARY, and the Inspector will show you:
