What are MD5 files?
MD5 files contain checksums, strings of characters used to uniquely represent a file. These checksums enable users to verify that music files downloaded correctly. A recommended tool for creating these files is MD5summer. Please note that before uploading the MD5 created with this tool you should open the MD5 in a text editor and remove the top 3 lines so the first signature is now flush with the top of the file.
The MD5 algorithm is described in RFC1321 by R. Rivest. Using the MD5 algorithm, it is possible to calculate a “signature” for a file. For example: 5c63cea472906212bffa149299be0e59 This signature is essentially unique to that file. Any changes to the file (even tiny ones!) will result in a completely different signature. An MD5 file contains a list of all the signatures of all the SHN files of a bootleg. You can check the signatures in the MD5 file against the signatures for each SHN file. If some of them don’t match, it means that those files were damaged during downloading them, so you should try downloading again. For MD5 software that automates the checking process, see etree.org. Also, mkwACT has MD5 checking built in. For more details about how MD5 works, please see the original RFC at: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1321.
