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How to calculate MD5/SHA1/SHA256 checksums of a file without an external tool

Checksum is the easiest way to check if the content of a file is as it was expected to be or was changed/broken after a file transfer or an internet download.

A lot of websites (like CoolSoft) show the expected MD5/SHA1/SHA256 checksums beside each download link, so users can check "download health" after it completes.

Antivirus false positives are a plague for small developers

In the last few weeks some antiviruses detected one of my well-known softwares (VirtualMIDISynth) as malicious.

These detections are false positive because:

  1. I wrote that software and I've built its setup, so I know what I've put inside it
  2. I don't like malware/adware/badware too
  3. I don't like to associate my name to something bad

That said, what other arguments I have to support the statements above, other that my own word? Sadly, almost none!

PDF Property Extension

PDF Property Extension is a lightweight COM extension that brings back PDF properties and columns (like Title, Author, Subject, Comments) to Windows Explorer (File Explorer). It implements the IPropertyHandler interface for PDF files, required from Windows Vista® and later.

Works on Windows Vista®, 7, 8 and 10 (both x86 and x64).

My father died last week...

My father died last week at 75, after a hard fought battle with cancer.
He just started his new life as a grandfather, a few years ago.
Last month his disease worsened, and got worse day after day till May 25 when God called him.

He was a great car repairer, but this was only his "official" job.
His brain was always running, he spent his whole life creating a lot of things.
He was my (and a lot of other people's) inspirer, the person to ask for help or ideas.
When I had a problem, he had a fix; when I had a question, he always had the answer.

New website started, good luck CoolSoft!

Today website migration has completed successfully and the new one is up and running.

A lot of new features have been added, starting from the possibility for users to register accounts and being notified about CoolSoft updates.

In a few days a forum will start too; this way most popular projects (VirtualMIDISynth first) will have a reserved (and clean) space to report bugs, suggest features and so on.
That should be better than hundreds of comments, hard to search and follow.

Let's start

This is the beginning of a new adventure, the blog!

After a lot of reading other ones entries I thought: why don't I write down my ideas and findings?
Nevermind, this is not going to be Slashdot or TechRepublic but - I hope - it will contain something cool to read... in fact we are on CoolSoft ;)

Feel free to comment.