Can Robocopy ensure file integrity?

Question

I am trying to copy a large file, around 10G size, over Internet using Robocopy, but I am a bit concerned about the file integrity. Can I just trust Robocopy to ensure file integrity or I need to calculate and verify the MD5 myself?

Answer 1

Short answer: no. Robocopy does not calculate nor compare hashes on the source and destination (copied) files.

Answer 2

One large monolithic file will likely cause problems if it fails partway through or if /Z is used it might take too long to transfer.

I would suggest using an archive utility to both split it into multiple files and provide an extra layer of integrity checking of the assembled file. On newer versions of Windows it also lets you use the /MT which transfers multiple files at once which can speed things up on slow links if you also using /Z. So split, robocopy the parts over and then reassemble.

Answer 3

Robocopy doesn't check the file hash as far as I know.

However, you could get hash of the files you want by the get-hash command. Just input bellow the following commandline in any Windows terminal:

get-hash filename

References:

• Robocopy
• get-hash