One of the first things you will encounter with all Linux distro's is this method for checking the Linux file you are downloading is the "legitimate" ISO file you wanted to download.
Today I'll teach you basics of checking sha256sum using a Windows computer; in particular Windows 7. The operating system to be downloaded is Linux Mint 18.2 “Sonya Cinnamon released!
Why this distribution? One: it is very popular therefore used on different computer systems world wide, so if you have troubles than you should be able to find the answer to your problem. Two: I tried Antergos, however it came up with "Error establishing a database connection" and the torrent file I downloaded did not match their system of file checking called MD5 sum. Being the good guy, I post the bug and will check back in the future. :)
Here is Linux Cinnamon if you wish to try.
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3289
Ok, so at this point, your ISO file will be downloading to your "Download" folder in Windows. To make this process easier. Press start then type "powershell". If you are like me, I pin this to my taskbar for easy access.
Depending on your system, you will get something like this.
C:\Users\YourAccountNamehere
type cd \ which takes you back to C:\
You then want to make a folder for the files you are going to download
mkdir linux\
If you wish you check that it made the folder you can do so by typing 'dir' then 'enter'.
Now than need to download the sha256sum.txt from here to verify your download.
https://linuxmint.com/verify.php
So now we want to get the sha256sum.exe file from here;
http://www.labtestproject.com/using_windows/step_by_step_using_sha256sum_on_windows_xp.html
Ok, you can now take all these files:
- sha256sum.txt, sha256sum.exe
- Linux Mint ISO
and put them into the C:\linux folder
open up "powershell" again and type cd \ enter
Type sha256sum linuxmint.iso > linux.txt
**Please note you will have to replace the linuxmint.iso above with the full file name of the iso you have downloaded
Now open both the sha256sum.txt and linux.txt file and compare both signatures. What you've done is tested the linuxmint.iso and sent the signature to linux.txt file. If this matches the one in sha256sum.txt then you have a good ISO and you are good to burn to CD or USB
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