I have two database backup files. I would like to know if there is any difference between the two. I could go row by row, field by field and do a diff (I'm not looking for differences in schema but rather data, although I expect the schema to remain the same).
Can I run some sort of checksum on the files, or do I have to go through the data itself to be 100% certain?
I think you will have to go through the data I would think as I would expect the file to have dates and other things in it that will mess up any check sums you could calculate.
Something like Apex SQL Data Diff is pretty good, but there are plenty of diff tools out there. You would need to restore the backups to temporary databases to be able to run this though.
Restore both backups to temporary database (might need to use 'WITH MOVE' to rename logical name), and then use a tool like RedGate's Data Compare.
Some people have written scripts to do such things.
One I found - http://www.sql-server-performance.com/articles/dba/database_comparison_sp_p1.aspx