I'm not familiar with SHA checksums. How does one generate them?
I'm sorry it took me so long to reply, back in mid-2013 i didn't know how to calculate the checksum with windows builtin tools. And i didn't want to suggest cygwin which i normally use for that, because it seems like overkill to install for just that.
But today it dawned on me
It is possible to do it with the windows powershell.
Here are the Instructions, should work on windows 7 and 8:
1. Search for powershell in the Start-Menu (7) or Start-Screen (8) and run it.
2. The Powershell Window shows a Prompt displaying PS followed by the current Path and > at the End. It should start out in your home-directory, e.g.: PS C:\Users\joe>
3. Use the "cd" Command to change to the Directory where you Downloaded the Installer into. If you use the standard Downloads Directory in your Home-Dir, you can just type: cd Downloads
4. The Command to calculate the SHA256 sum is:
Get-FileHash '.\The BAT Mod v 4.1 Installer.exe'
Note that you can use Tab-Completion to enter this without typing it all out. Just type: get-f <Tab> <Space> the <Tab>
(If you have multiple files beginning with "the", just press Tab several times till you get to the right one)
Edit: You can select the Hash with the mouse and then copy it to the clipboard by doing a right-click.
As for why i think it would be nice if checksums where posted: Theoretically someone could hack a mirror and let loose a virus on the files stored there. When i can compare the checksum to the one posted here in the forum, there is a chance i could notice the problem.