Many. many, many years ago (1990’s) I tried umpteen different file validation checking programs and got mixed results, i.e. some didn’t adhere to any standard, others were limited and still others were too dang complicated.

I even wrote my own Validation program (In Visual Basic for DOS, using an OCX file from Microsoft that I could pass info to about files to create checksums for and later read these back and see if anything had changed)

It was a 16bit CRC (as opposed to a proper hash hash, but it worked and like its modern counterparts it became obsolete, i.e. files became larger and the OCX could only reliably check up to files 2GB in size.

So I tested loads of programs to find the One, then I came across CHECKSUM.EXE by Corz. (FREEWARE)

Like your product it ticked all the boxes and is VERY simple to use (it integrates into Windows Explorer shell and you only have to highlight a file or folder, then right click on it and select from the dropdown menu, “Create Checksums” or “Verify Checksums” and that’s it it does what it says on the tin!
[ there is an extensive .INI file where you can select a customised set things you can do with the program ]

Now you’re probably wondering WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL THIS ?

Simply because the developer has stopped developing the program in 2015, His site is still there and you can still download and use the program but there have been no updates since then and I have been looking for a good replacement ever since.

Then I found your program, I love it, it is blisteringly fast, has multiple hash methods, (Checksum has only got 3: MD5, SHA1, Blake3 and the first two are cryptographically broken, meaning they could be spoofed.) the fact that yours is cross platform is great but not an essential for me.

I found your program about a week ago and the night I found it I tried it out and I nearly gave up on it, as I had gotten so used to Checksum being a point, click & go and yours took a bit of work to find how do things, e.g. to create a list of checksummed files was one thing that wasn’t obvious then how to read back the list of checksummed files and have it tell you if any files are corrupt or missing!
In checksum.exe you simply selected a folder and clicked “Create” it did the rest, creating a log file as it went containing not just the HASH but also the path, filename, date, time, size for each and every file (subfolders too if you had set that option) all this was put into a file named after the folder/file and with the extension .HASH so you could have mixed hashes in the one file.

To later check them you simply located the *.HASH file, double clicked on it and it went through the list of files in the log file and if any were corrupt or missing it notified you, another thing it can do is if you have a list of previous hashes and add some more files to the folders and run create checksum, then it ask if you want to create all new checksums or synchronise the existing hashes with the X amount of new files to be hashed.

I came back here tonight to see if there was any updates and to my horror I found that you had dumped the x86 version of your program…

Now, why, you might ask is this so horrific?

Simply this: After finding such a promising replacement for my checksumming needs I will be forever stuck with a x86 version and any flaws it might have without they ever being rectified :-(

This for me (and surely others like me throughout the world) is a major problem, as you may have gathered I am from a different era,( Hint: I worked when there were NO computers capable of handling files much bigger then 100-200 MB. ) I am on Disability Allowance and my laptop is a HP Pavillion that was manufactured in2009, It is in good working order but it is an x86 processor, running Windows 7 meaning that if you stop developing for x86 then I’m screwed.

As for going to Windows 10, I bought a Win 10 laptop a while back and was running it and I noticed files going missing, I checked for malware with various AV products but none found, Then I doubted myself because of my disability, I later found out it Was a Microsoft update (1803 I think it was) had wiped about 1TB of data (Family photos and such) anyway you get the picture.

So Please maintain development for those of us who are still dependent upon x86 arch.

One other thing:
Part of the reason I went into such detail about Corz CHECKSUM.EXE is I think it is the epitome of how a Hashing program should be developed, That is NOT to say I am critising your method, But I have used it for so long and found it so easy use I thought that I should tell you about it, I would at least recommend that you go to Corz.org and D/L it and have a play around with how it works, who knows you may get inspired, My motto when I can, Keep It Simply Simple.

Thank you for Your Time and consideration and what ever you do keep up the good work.