Are you experiencing the Checksum error when trying to extract a RAR file using WinRAR? WinRAR is a popular file archiver tool for Windows with some great features and tools. It allows you to extract RAR and ZIP files on a PC. However, some users have complained that they can’t extract a RAR archive due to the Checksum error.
This error can be a result of different factors. Here are some of the potential causes:
- In most scenarios, it occurs if the RAR archive that you want to extract is corrupted or broken.
- It also may occur in case the download of the archive file was interrupted due to a weak internet connection.
- Another potential cause of this error is interference caused by your antivirus that eventually interrupts the RAR extracting process.
- In case you don’t have a sufficient amount of free disk space, you are likely to face this error.
- This error might also be a result of the bad sectors on your hard drive.
- A faulty installation of the WinRAR application can also cause this error.
Now, if you are also facing the same error, this post will interest you. Here, we are going to discuss working fixes that will help you get rid of the Checksum error in WinRAR. So, let’s check out.
Fix Checksum Error in WinRAR extraction
If you are receiving the Checksum error while extracting an archive using WinRAR, you can use the following methods to fix the error:
- Use the Keep broken files option.
- Repair archive.
- Redownload the problematic RAR file.
- Temporarily disable your antivirus.
- Free up some disk space.
- Fix bad sectors on your hard drive.
- Uninstall and reinstall WinRAR.
- Use a WinRAR alternative.
1] Use the Keep broken files option
WinRAR provides a dedicated option that enables you to extract a corrupted RAR file. This option is called Keep broken files. So, if the error occurs because your archive is broken or corrupted, you can enable this function and extract a broken RAR file. To do that, you just have to configure WinRAR settings. Here are the steps to extract a broken archive using WinRAR:
- Firstly, go to the ZIP or RAR archive file that you want to extract and right-click on it.
- Now, from the appeared context menu, select the Extract files option.
- Next, in the newly opened window, tick the Keep broken files checkbox under the Miscellaneous section.
- Finally, select an extraction location, press the OK button, and see if the error is fixed or not.
In case this doesn’t fix the error for you, we recommend using the next fix.
2] Repair archive
WinRAR also offers a dedicated function to repair a damaged RAR archive file. So, you can use it to repair your RAR file and then extract it to check if the error is fixed. To repair a bad archive file, here are the steps to follow:
- First, right-click on the corrupted archive file and choose the Open with WinRAR option.
- Now, go to the Tools menu and choose the Repair archive option.
- After that, select the output location to save the fixed RAR or ZIP archive and press the OK button to start repairing the archive.
- When the process is finished, see if you are able to extract the archive without the Checksum error.
There are some free third-party software that allow you to repair RAR archives. You can use this free desktop application called DataNumen RAR Repair. Just download and install it from its official website and then launch it. After that, move to its Repair tab and choose the source RAR file that you want to repair. You can then select the destination location and press the Start Repair button to intimate the process. It even allows you to repair a batch of corrupted RAR files at once.
Read: The archive is either in an unknown format or damaged.
3] Redownload the problematic RAR file
This error could be triggered due to an incomplete or incorrect download of the source RAR file. Or, it might also be the case that there were interruptions during the extraction process and thus, you keep receiving this error. Hence, if the scenario is applicable, you can download the RAR file again to a different folder on your system. Before doing that, ensure that your internet connection is stable and there is no network connectivity issue. Once you have downloaded the file, extract it and see if the error is resolved or not.
4] Temporarily disable your antivirus
You might be dealing with this error due to interference by your antivirus. Sometimes, your overprotective antivirus suite analyzes the process or program as a potential threat due to a false positive alarm. As a result, the process is interrupted and you encounter errors like this. So, if that is the case, you can turn off your antivirus for some time and then try extracting your RAR or ZIP file. See if the problem is fixed. If yes, you can be sure that the Checksum error while using WinRAR was caused due to your antivirus.
Do not forget to enable your antivirus protection once you have successfully extracted the archive.
5] Free up some disk space
You also need to ensure that you have enough free space on your drive to extract the content of the RAR archive. This error could be caused if you are running out of disk space. Hence, if the scenario applies, you can make some space on your system to extract the files of your archive.
To free up disk space, you can try clearing temporary and other cache files using the Windows Disk Cleanup tool. Apart from that, scan for duplicate files on your system and clear them to make some space. Besides that, you can also delete unused files from your system.
See: Path too long Error 0x80010135 when extracting zip file
6] Fix bad sectors on your hard drive
It might also be the case that the error is triggered due to bad sectors on your hard drive. So, in that case, repair the bad sectors on your hard drive and check if you are able to extract the archive without this error. You can use CHKDSK Windows Disk Error Checking Tool to fix the bad sectors on your hard drive. Here’s how to use it:
- Firstly, open the Command Prompt window from the Start menu search option.
- Now, enter a similar command to the below one:
CHKDSK /F C:
In the above command, replace C with the drive letter you want to scan.
- Once done, you can reboot your computer and check if you can extract the RAR file using WinRAR or not.
7] Uninstall and reinstall WinRAR
If none of the above solutions work for you, try uninstalling and then reinstalling the WinRAR application. The error might be caused due to a corrupted or incomplete installation of the app itself. Hence, you can remove the current copy of WinRAR which is corrupted, and then install a fresh copy of the app to get rid of the error.
To uninstall WinRAR, you can open the Settings app using Win+I and then move to the Apps tab. After that, click on the Installed apps option and locate the WinRAR in the list of your installed apps. Next, click on the three-dot menu button and then choose the Uninstall option, and then follow the prompted instructions to complete the process. Once the app is uninstalled, reboot your PC and download the latest version of WinRAR from its official website. Now, you can install it on your computer and then check if you can extract RAR archive without the Checksum error.
Read: Windows cannot complete the extraction error in Windows
8] Use a WinRAR alternative
In case the problem still continues, you can use a WinRAR alternative to extract a RAR file. There are plenty of free archive extractors that let you extract RAR archives. So, if WinRAR doesn’t work, you can use free software like 7-Zip, Extract Now, and PeaZip. Some free Microsoft Store apps are also available that you can use to extract RAR files.
How do I manually verify checksum?
To verify the checksum of a file, you can use Windows’ inbuilt command line tool called Windows Certutil. You can simply open the Command Prompt app and then enter the certutil -hashfile path-to-your-file MD5 command to verify the checksum of a file. Apart from that, you can also use any of these third-party File Integrity Checker tools for the same.
How do you solve a CMOS checksum problem?
To fix the CMOS Checksum error, you can try resetting BIOS Defaults or updating your BIOS. Apart from that, check your CMOS battery and if required, change or replace it. Besides that, you can also perform Automatic Repair to fix issues with your computer that might be causing this error.
Now read: 7-Zip Cannot open file as archive.
