If you’d like to make sure a folder content stays untouched, you can use catalog files. A catalog file lists all folder content plus creates hashes for each file in the folder. Here is an example:
# path to folder to create a catalog file for # (make sure it exists and isn't too large) $path = "$Home\Desktop" # path to catalog file to be created $catPath = "$env:temp\myDesktop.cat" # create catalog New-FileCatalog -Path $path -CatalogVersion 2.0 -CatalogFilePath $catPath
Depending on how large the folder is, it may take some time to create the catalog file. You cannot create catalogs for files that are locked and in use. The resulting catalog file is a binary file that contains the hashes of all files in your folder.
To check whether the folder is still untouched, you can use Test-FileCatalog:
PS> Test-FileCatalog -Detailed -Path $path -CatalogFilePath $catPath
Status : Valid
HashAlgorithm : SHA256
CatalogItems : {...}
PathItems : {...}
Signature : System.Management.Automation.Signature
If folder content and catalog match, then the result status is “Valid”. Else, the CatalogItems property contains a detailed list of all folder items, and whether they are still untouched or have changed.
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