Trusted Approach to Verify Windows ISO File Authenticity

Verify the authenticity of Windows ISO files to ensure their security and integrity

After downloading Windows ISO files, how do you verify their authenticity to ensure their security and integrity? This article will introduce a simple verification method.

If you need to create a bootable installation media to install the Windows operating system, you can download the ISO file to do this. But how do you know if the ISO file has been tampered with? This article will describe how to use file hashing to verify the authenticity of Windows ISO files.

What is file hash?

A file hash is a fixed-length character string that is the result of an encrypted hash. This string is generated by using a mathematical algorithm. The hash value of each file is unique and definite.

Any changes to the file will change the final file hash value. Therefore, you can compare the generated hash value to its original file hash value to check if the file has been changed or tampered with. Additionally, file hashing is used to track file changes, specify specific files, and detect and delete duplicate files.

How to verify ISO image on Windows?

How to verify file hash of a Windows ISO file on Windows? Windows PowerShell is a simple tool that can be used to check Windows ISO file hashes. You can verify the authenticity of Windows ISO files by following these steps:

Step 1: Right-click on the Windows icon and select Windows PowerShell from the WinX menu.

Step 2: Windows PowerShell is opened in C:\Users\username by default. If your ISO file is saved elsewhere, you need to type cd [directory] and press Enter . For example, my Windows ISO file is saved in the system folder of D disk, so I need to type the commands cd D:\ and cd system to access the target folder.

Step 3: Type get-filehash .\[filename] and press Enter to execute the command line. You should change filename to the real name of your ISO file.

After running this command line, you can get SHA256 hash output on the screen. To verify the authenticity of Windows ISO files, compare the hash output with the hash list provided by Microsoft.

This is how to verify Windows 11 ISO files using PowerShell. You can also use this method to check Windows 10 ISO files.

Download and restore Windows ISO files

Download ISO Files

To download a Windows ISO file, you can visit the Microsoft Downloads page and scroll down to find the "Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO)" section.

Then, select Windows 11 (Multi-version ISO) and click Download . You need to select your preferred language and click OK .

After verification, click 64-bit download to download the ISO file.

Recover lost ISO files

If your ISO file is lost due to mistaken deletion or other reasons, there are no need to re-download, there are several ways you can recover it.

The most direct way is to recover from the Recycle Bin on your computer. If you can't find it in the recycling bin, professional data recovery software may be your first choice. File recovery software, such as MiniTool Power Data Recovery, can safely recover files in various situations.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery enables you to scan the entire device, specific partitions, or specific folders. You can also quickly find target files using features such as search, filter, and type. You can get MiniTool Power Data Recovery free version, scan and recover files up to 1GB for free.

You can read this article to learn more about the detailed steps to recover ISO files:

Conclusion

This is all about how to know if a Windows ISO file is real or not. In addition, this article explains how to download and recover ISO files. Hope you can get useful information from this article.

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