Not sure this is correct I downloaded the OEM X86 version SHA ending in E143 and the retail X86 SHA ending in F610 Then I loaded each into Power ISO and deleted each file EI.CFG in each ISO Then I copied the DVD "NAME" GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD from one ISO to the other so that they had the same name letters & spacing. Then I saved each and did a SHA1 hash total on each one and they did not match. So there must be something other than the EI.CFG file difference. Any ideas?
did you already install any? If hash of individual files matches 100% (besides ei.cfg), there is no difference at all
Files' disposition in iso, maybe some attrbites? Two iso files are too big for direct compare by content, so you may cut them in equal pieces and compare parts one by one...
Is there such a program that can scan 2 DVD's and do a file by file. byte by byte comparison and report any differences. I know some programs can do 1 file comparison at a time, but how about 500 files on 2 DVD's???
I have not installed any. I am waiting on OEM files & matching SLIC's Hash files minus EI.CFG do not match. That is what I am saying--Did not test INDIVIDUAL FILES tho, just ISO's minus EI.CFG.
I dont have too much space at this moment... But, maybe you could try to make both isos without the sources folder... to see what happen
mmm I´d try to make isos with just one file, and the hash doesn´t match... so maybe the sha1, md5 are modified by the building time, and some other factors. If you install oem, please report Product ID on system properties
Did you say ---- You did try and they did not match or did you say --IF you try and they do not match maybe build time or other factors may affect the hash can anyone advise what factors truely affect MD5 or SHA1 hashes? Dates, Capitols vs lower cases, final ISO names, Attributes, File order ascending vs decending, etc?? maybe easier to say what has no effect
Sorry, I mean, I have tried 5 minutes ago So, building time and some other factors affects sha1 and md5. I just made an iso with only setup.exe, 2 times, same iso name, same setup file, no match.
The hash values for the ISO images are computed on every byte of the ISO image, not just the files contained inside the ISO image. When you delete a file from an ISO image using PowerISO or UltraISO, the ISO image's file system and directory structure has to be changed to accomplish it. There's a multitude of valid ways to make these changes and optimize the resulting ISO image. Bottom line is, virtually ANY change you make to ANY ISO image will result in it have a totally new and unique hash value.
So maybe creation date, modification date, and last access date, as well as content may affect hashes. If this is so, then MD5 won't be able to identify differences due to simply changing last accessed date, let alone content changes That means file by file, byte by byte analysis to be sure.
EVERY one of these factors (and virtually any other aspect you can think of) affects the hash values. A hash is simply the result of a complex formula for adding up the values of every byte in the ISO image, regardless of what each byte's purpose in life is. Change a single BIT of ANY byte and you get any entirely different hash value.
well, really dont know what to think... but, I have installed a retail vista long time ago, and was activated with slp + cert. And on product id it says xxxxxxxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxxxx I want to think that product id changes acording to the key you use
An excellent way to compare the CONTENTS of two ISO images (which is usually all that's interesting) is to mount them both with Daemon tools and then use WINDIFF to compare all the files between the two. I've done this on the Retail vs OEM images and the only difference is in ei.cfg under the [Channel] heading. I suspect this is for documentational purposes only and has no effect whatsover on the install or subsequent operation, especially considering that ei.cfg can be deleted to disable the express install of a particular version feature of SETUP.
If you use the same PowerISO program and supposedly 2 sets of the same exact data, won't the program organize, optimize, and calculate the new iso identically? If the data was different I would expect a different output due to organization or optimization, but exact copies of input data should provide the exact same output result. 1+3 may equal 4, but in computers 1+3 does not necessarily equal 2+2 or 4+0 as they are not IDENTICAL input data. We are talking about supposed identical input data except for EI.CFG are we not? Please explain further if this is not so. Also not familiar with "windif"