You are trying to install a game or software on your Windows, and suddenly, you encounter An error that occurred while unpacking; It does not match the checksum message. As a result, you cannot continue with the installation.
This common issue often occurs when you download games or software and try to run it. The reason behind the error usually means that the extracted data doesn’t match the expected value, or you can say the file is corrupted or didn’t get downloaded properly.
Fix An error occurred while unpacking; Does not match checksum
You can successfully fix An error occurred while unpacking; Does not match checksum, Unarc.dll returned Error Code 12 by following these suggestions.
- Verify your installation media isn’t corrupted
- Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013
You will need admin permission to execute these suggestions.
1] Verify your installation media isn’t corrupted
As mentioned earlier, the error usually occurs if the file is corrupted or doesn’t get downloaded correctly. So, the first step for you would be to verify that the installation media isn’t corrupted.
So, the best option would be to re-download your file and continue with the installation to check if it works.
Even if the downloading doesn’t work out for you, you can check the file integrity with hash values. Usually, the hash value of the game or software will be located on the download page itself, and it will be in MD5 or SHA-256.
So you can use tools like Certutil or HashMyFiles to open your file and then match the hash value from the download page and what the software shows. If it’s a mismatch, try downloading the software from another source.
Read: Best MD5 Hash Checker Tools for Windows
2] Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013
Many users reported downloading Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable helped them fix the issue. So you can try out the same and see if it also works for you.
To download the files, visit the Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable 2013 files page and download all three.
Once downloaded, click on each .exe file one by one and run it following all the screen instructions. Finally, reboot your PC and continue with the game or software installation, and it should work out for you.
Read: Windows installation stuck on Getting files ready
If none of the above methods works for you, consider downloading the file from somewhere else or checking the software requirements to see if your PC can run the software.
Read: Calculate and verify checksum and hashes of files with PS Hash
What to do if checksum doesn’t match?
If a checksum doesn’t match, it typically indicates that data has been corrupted or altered in some way during transmission or storage. The best way to proceed is to redownload, but if the same thing happens again, you need to connect with the admin of the source page.
What does checksum mean?
A checksum is a concise and unchanging value derived from data, usually utilized to confirm the accuracy of the data. It serves as a digital signature for a specific set of data. When a checksum calculation is performed on information, such as a file or message, a distinct value is generated that represents its contents.