How to read checksums for downloaded files

Make it easier to read checksums for downloaded files, download Hash Tool from the Windows Store.
Or use command line tools, I tell you how below.
I have not downloaded many files lately, but when I do from a non-Microsoft site, other than, say Google,
or mozilla, or Adobe, you get the idea, main web portals. Then I usually do not check the checksums to
verify the file I downloaded agrees with what was downloaded.

If you are not familiar with checksums, it as an encrypted way of verifying a downloaded file, has the same long, encrypted characters as the original.

Checksums are generally MD5, which are less secure at 128 bit encryption, or
Sha-1, which are more secure at 256 bit encryption.

I download a version of Linux at times, or today, Haiku, based from BeOS.
I wanted to verify the checksum, so I duckducked it or googled it.
It was not as simple as you would think.
Microsoft has a checksum tool for MD5 checksums. It is not a program you can just download and run.
Microsoft states to put the path in your Windows path statement in order to use the tool.
I can do that, but why?
Not just anyone can do it, and it takes time, yes, why should it?
Microsoft could simply make a small program that is built into Windows that you can use in the GUI.
The GUI, for those who do not know, is a program that has a shortcut in the start menu, and you can just
click to run it.


You can download their tool, then put the path to wherever you save it in your path variable, then run the commands from an elevated Command prompt.
It is a usable solution for the technically experienced and inclied, but to others, not so much.
It is not handy to anyone!
NOTE: I entered Microsoft's website to download the tool below, if you choose to do so for whatever reason.

Built-in CertUtil

There is a built in command in Windows that you can use to read 256 Sha-1 checksums.

To run the easier built-in command, open a command prompt as administrator, by typing the word command
in the Windows Search box by the Start menu, when you see the command program listed, right click it and
choose, run as administrator, from the drop-down list. You will be prompted by Windows with the

question, Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?. Click on Yes, in order to open the command prompt as administrator.

In order to use the command that is built into Windows 10, which makes me wonder why Microsoft has a download version available, run the following in a command prompt as administrator, also known as an elevated command prompt.

To check an MD5 file run the following command:


CertUtil -hashfile filename MD5

To use a Sha-1 or SHA256 check, enter the following command:

CertUtil -hashfile filename SHA256

NOTE: In both of the commands above, you would put in the actual filename of the file that you are checking.

One more thing to mention, in order to run the commands, you will want to run them from the folder that the downloaded file is in.

In Windows 7, 8.1, and 10, that would normally be in:
C:\users\username\downloads
The username would be the actual username of your Windows account.

Should you want to download the Microsoft File Verifier Integrity Checker (FVIC), you can download it
here

I hope this helps someone.
Let me say one more thing, as with many computer related topics, an encrypted hash and a checksum are
two different things. With this post, I am wanting to relay how to check the checksum, in order to make
sure the file you downloaded is the file that the author, or file repository intended.

Since writing this article, I found a hash file checker named Hash Tool.
You can look it up on Google, or DuckDuckgo dot com or you can download it from The Microsoft Store.
You can run command line tool, but if you download quite a few program from the Internet, it may
serve you well to install the small tool.
I verified it works quite well. You can select from several encryption options MD5 and SHA256 to name two. Thanks for checking in with The Virusfighter's blog.

Dell Primary Drive Not Found OR Secondary Drive Not found 0 or 1

Dell Dimension 2400 Boot error Primary - OR - Secondary drive 0 or 1 not found The error can be for Windows XP or 7 - or other. Error is seen upon boot up before the Operating System loads so is not Operating System Dependent When you see the error upon boot up - you should be able to select F1 to continue or if you want to fix the error / problem Try the following. Enter the BIOS Setup by pressing F2. Turn on Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and Num Lock. Press ALT + E then ALT + F (should hear beep) then ALT + B When Pressing the keys, Hold down ALT, then hit the second key while still pressing ALT, then let go of both keys, repeat until all 3 have been ran. This will reconfigure the boot devices.

unable to parse command line error when trying to launch your Citrix desktop

For Windows based computers using Windows 7 or 8
For error:
"unable to parse command line"
when trying to launch your Citrix desktop.

What needs to happen is, Citrix receiver needs to be associated with

wfcrun32.exe (and not) wfica32.exe

Go to your companies Citrix website.

Click your Citrix Desktop icon (whatever it may be called) you will be prompted to open or save the launch.ica file.

Click the “down arrow by Save” you will see a "Save as" option -
(as the answer to what do you want to do save or open), After selecting "Save as",
Browse to and Click to save on desktop or wherever as long as you can locate the file.

Right click on the "launch.ica" file, click "Open With"
- Select:"Choose default program".
Leave check in "always use the selected program to open this kind of file", which will correctly associate the files opened with Citrix.

Select (Browse), navigate to
"C:\Program Files
(or Program Files (x86) if 64 bit Windows)
Citrix\ICA Client, and select wfcrun32.exe, select Open then OK.
Close then reopen Internet Explorer (or whatever browser you are using.

Launch the Desktop.

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Get the latest version of Microsoft RDP client for Mac OS X

Get the latest version of Microsoft RDP client for Mac OS X.

To connect to a Windows computer from your Mac via RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), here is the site to download the latest Remote Desktop Client software (RDC)

You can download the latest Remote Desktop Client for Macintosh from Microsoft by clicking the link below.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=18140

Citrix not taking keyboard commands Mac OS X

Citrix not taking keyboard commands Mac OS X.

When on a Citrix server, you type and nothing appears, do the following.
Go to Finder on your Macintosh, by hitting Command + Tab and release at the finder Face,
(You may have to hold down command and hit Tab more than once, releasing at Finder),
then click on your Citrix receiver icon on the dock at the bottom (unless you moved it).
Or hit Command + Tab again and release it on Citrix Receiver.
Once back in Citrix, your keyboard should work.

For a permanent fix (hopefully)

It has been reported on Citrix Forums that updating your Citrix to version 11.9 or higher should fix the issue.
Thanks for visiting,
The Virus Fighter Blog

HP Probook – how to turn keypad mouse back on - keypad, mouse not working

HP Probook – how to turn keypad mouse back on when you accidentally turned if off.

This Trick works for ProBooks 5000 and 6000 series.
If you have accidentally disabled your Touchpad, you will see a Yellow LED light on the top left of the pad.

Double tapping the top left corner of the Touchpad
(where the yellow LED is ) toggles the pad On.
If it is On, it will turn it Off.

When it is off - you can only navigate your computer via keyboard commands, which makes it very difficult to get around, or you can navigate with a USB / wireless mouse.
This happened to a customer of mine and I found the fix on an HP Forum.

Hope this helped you.

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May God Bless!

The Virus Fighter

How to Eject a CD or DVD on Mac OS X if you don't see the disk mounted. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities and open Terminal Type the following command: /usr/bin/drutil eject Hit the Enter key and Voila! That should eject the CD or DVD - unless it is physically stuck. Hope that helps someone. Hope to post soon!