Using CertUtil to verify Linux checksums in Windows

This is a super simple how-to as a reminder for myself and an explainer for anyone else who is trying to verify a Linux ISO file with SHA256 on a Windows machine.

Before you start trying to verify

• Download the ISO of your chosen distro to your computer
• Download or copy the checksum from the distro's verified website (so if you're downloading Mint from the Harvard mirror, get the verification documentation from the Linux Mint website)
• Open a text document (notepad or Word or whatever)
• Identify the location of the ISO file on your computer
• Right-click on the ISO file and open Properties, in Properties copy the file path to the ISO file and the full name of the file, then paste that information into your text document
• Paste the SHA256 Sum into your text document

Now you're ready to verify.

• Open Command prompt on Windows by hitting "Windows Key+R", typing CMD in the dialog box, and hitting enter.
• Type "cd" followed by a space then paste the file path from your document into the prompt and hit enter. (So, something like "cd Desktop\Parent Folder\Folder) this should output the following:

C:\Users\Name\Desktop\Parent Folder\Folder>

• Type (or paste the following without the quotation marks or brackets): "certutil -hashfile <EXAMPLE-ISO-NAME-DELETEQUOTATIONMARKS.ISO> SHA256"
• Hit enter; this should return something like the following:

SHA256 hash of EXAMPLE-ISO-NAME-DELETEQUOTATIONMARKS.iso:

6arire78tbaan901tvir234lbh5678hc9012arire34567tbaan6yrg78lbhqbja

CertUtil: - hashfile command completed successfully.

• Copy the 64 character hash string and paste it into your text document to compare the sum you pasted earlier. If the strings match, you are clear to flash the ISO to a disk.