One must have discovered this CRC SHA admission in the context menu when they installed or updated their file compression program/software(7-zip) to 15.12 on their Windows 10,8, 8.1 so on…
7-zip is one of the popular file compression software used by many. If pointed on the side arrow then you will observe a few more entries like CRC- 64, SHA-256, SHA-1, etc.
Let us learn what is CRC SHA, its purpose, and if we can remove it or not.
Contents
1. What Is CRC?
Cyclic Redundancy Check in short for CRC is a method or process by which accidental changes or errors in the communication channel are detected using generator polynomials that are available on both sender and receiver sides.
Now since most of us may not have the knowledge of complex algorithms and how to implement digital circuits… we likely would want to remove it from our context menu.
Yes, it’s a different thing that CRC is quite popular because it is effective in detecting errors and easy to execute with simple mathematical analysis.
What Is SHA?
SHA or Secure Hash Algorithm is another algorithm that is used to hash data and certificate files using hash functions. Simply said, these algorithms are designed to keep your data secure and are a family of cryptographic functions.
We know authentication is the most significant point in electronic communication. i.e knowing that on the other end is genuinely the same person you want to communicate with. This is why the TLS( Transport Layer Security) protocol implements strong authentication with cryptography. And SHA is the cryptographic algorithm accepted for digital signatures.
There are two versions of this algorithm that are SHA 1 and SHA 2 and these two differ in the number of bits or the length of the hashed output. Here, the one with more number of bits is more secure which means it’s relatively difficult to break it using brute force.
SHA 1 is a weak defense as it produces a 160-bit digest when compared to SHA 2 that produces a 256-bit digest.
The avalanche effect, to detect the tampering of data by attackers, encrypting passwords, are some of its traditional applications.
What Is CRC SHA & How Does It Work?
Above we read what is CRC and SHA independently and that SHA stands for Secure Hash Algorithms which are widely utilized in software, operating systems, and networking. Whereas CRC aka Cyclic Redundancy Check will thoroughly check if the data you sent has been altered during the transmission in any way.
These days there’s a single option handy for both of these(Cyclic Redundancy Check and Secure Hash Algorithms). Well, we now know technically how it helps but let’s see an instance.
Let’s say you are downloading a file through the internet with CRC SHA i.e you are generating its hash code. Then this hash code can be checked with the hash code made by the developer. If both matches then the file is perfectly fine to use as it is original and safe.
However, if it doesn’t match then there may be someone’s intrusion or might have been modified by someone which might not be safe to use.
Yes, this option is pretty helpful when you wish to share any of your confidential programs or files with someone. As the one who receives can also create a hash code and verify if that matches with the sender’s hash code alone reducing breach.
How To Remove CRC SHA In Windows 10
CRS SHA is beneficial but not in everyday life and common users don’t feel it necessary and they may like to remove it from their Context Menu. However, now that you have some basic knowledge about CRC and SHA, it wouldn’t be much difficult to decide if you wanna keep it or remove it.
If you are one of those who want to remove CRC SHA from the right-click menu then follow the simple steps given below and these apply to all the versions of Windows
Step 1: Type 7-zip in the search box and press enter to open 7 Zip File Manager.
Step 2: Open the program 7 Zip File Manager among the search results.
Step 3: Once the 7-zip window is launched, go to the menu bar and select tools then click on options.
Step 4: Here you have to switch to the 7- Zip tab on the options page.
Step 5: Now a checklist will be displayed from which you have to look for the CRC SHA option in the context menu and simply uncheck it.
Step 6: To save these changes click on the apply button that’s at the bottom of the window.
That’s all you have to do. Moreover in the future, if you ever wish to enable CRC SHA then follow the same steps and check it and click apply them save changes.
Conclusion
CRC SHA is helpful but most PC users don’t use it or one may use some other tool to calculate these values so they might want to remove CRC SHA from the Context menu.
There are numerous options available to calculate CRC SHA hash values other than 7- zip. However, this latest version has proven to calculate hash values more easily by placing CRC SHA in the context menu.
I hope this article has helped you and let us know if you have any questions regarding the same.
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