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Questions tagged [data-integrity]

69 questions
45
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1 answer

How do I fix "WARNING: message was not integrity protected" when using GPG symmetrical encryption?

I've encrypted a file using symmetric encryption like this: gpg --symmetric myfile which results in a file myfile.gpg. Alright. Now let's decrypt the file again: gpg -o myfile --decrypt myfile.gpg I'm being asked for the passphrase I've put on,…
gertvdijk
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41
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3 answers

Does Git prevent data degradation

I read that ZFS and Btrfs use checksums to prevent data degradation and I read that Git has integrity through hashing essentially everything with each commit. I was going to use a Git server on a Linux NAS with Btrfs RAID 1 for storage, but if Git…
MADforFUNandHappy
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30
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3 answers

Can data on a hard disk degrade without Windows warning me that this has happened when I attempt to access the data?

Is it likely that a physical degradation of a hard disk could cause bits to 'flip' in file contents without the OS 'noticing' and telling you about it when reading the file? e.g. could a 'p' in an ASCII text file (binary 01110000) change to a 'q'…
Нет войне
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24
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6 answers

How to transfer a file over pen and paper, with error correction

I'm looking for a way to transfer a file using only a pen and paper. This is somewhat similar to paperbak, except the density I'm looking for is much, much lower, and I don't want to use a printer or a scanner. Obviously, the first answer is Base64…
Jeremy Salwen
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14
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6 answers

How do I efficiently generate and validate file checksums?

I'd like to be able to capture and validate checksums for large-scale collections of files, typically nested within a complex directory hierarchy. Does every single file need a checksum? Are there ways to leverage the existing directory structure…
Aaron Rubinstein
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12
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5 answers

Do we really need to check the integrity of downloaded files?

I downloaded a huge amount of files, but discovered the use of md5 and sha as integrity checkers quite recently. From then I always prefer to check it for big downloaded files, even if I never found them to be corrupted. Do we really need to check…
maxpesa
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11
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1 answer

Is ECC mandatory in SSD technology?

While shopping for an SSD I have noticed that some manufacturers promote their "Pro" models as the ones sporting ECC data protection. Those manufacturers do not mention ECC in their budget models descriptions. However, Wikipedia article on flash…
Alexander Shcheblikin
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9
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1 answer

Does Windows calculate CRCs to check every file operation?

When Windows encounters a file corruption on a file system, it may return the following error message: Data error (cyclic redundancy check). This suggests Windows checks every file operation (copy, move, etc.) by calculating CRCs. Does Windows…
bwDraco
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1 answer

How to get Btrfs verify checksum for one file?

Btrfs offers these commands to verify data integrity/checksums: btrfs scrub start | btrfs check --check-data-csum However, AFAIK those always verify whole filesystems; the path argument is to identify a filesystem on a device, not…
Greendrake
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7
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3 answers

High "wasted" on a torrent download, with no hashfails

Recently I have downloaded a game patch from a torrent. The total patch size was ~528 MB and the torrent has shown 235 MB as "wasted", with 0 hashfails. Some other things I remember about the download: my client is uTorrent 2.2.1 While downloading,…
Suma
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6
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2 answers

Is there any reason to verify a download checksum over HTTPS

Assuming that both the page linking the download, and the download itself are on trusted domains over HTTPS, is there any reason to worry about checking the hash/checksum of the downloaded file (especially executables/installers, which are also not…
Fire Lancer
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6
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1 answer

Interpreting the Spin Retry Count S.M.A.R.T. attribute value for hard drives

I'm confused about the Spin Retry Count S.M.A.R.T. attribute value. On one particular hard drive, I see a raw value of 0, which the popular CrystalDiskInfo v7.0.5 interprets as a current value of 166, a worst value of 100, and a threshold of…
RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
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5
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2 answers

Comparing folders on two unconnected computers

I'd like to compare folders on two different computers. I'm using BitTorrent Sync to synchronize currently 260 GBs of data between two computers: a Windows 7 desktop PC and a Windows 8.1 laptop. All of this data resides within a directory hierarchy…
Abdull
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5
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1 answer

How can I detect (and correct) silent data corruption?

My question is, how can I detect silent data corruption at my home PC (Windows + Linux). I do rsync like automatic backups (with version history). But how do I know in a few months/years that a long unused file (like a thesis or my banking history)…
David Stark
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5
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1 answer

Is it safe to edit files during the defragmentation process?

Assuming I'm on an NTFS partition, is it just as safe to edit files during defragmentation as when not? Is there any added risk, even if very small? If not, how does the operating system ensure the integrity/consistency of the data?
DuckMaestro
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