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Find Duplicates 1.25a

Click here to download finddups.zip (25 kb).
(Needs MFC42.DLL, MSVCRT.DLL)

Find Duplicates

Note: This project is open source now! Feel free to add new features if you've got access to Visual Studio, and MFC. The source code can be accessed here: http://code.google.com/p/findduplicates/.

Since I have released My Uninstaller, I have been continuously getting requests about adding a feature which enables removal of packages which were installed without being monitored. The truth is that it is not possible to carry out uninstallation as accurately as My Uninstaller does without monitoring the installation. However, this utility will hopefully help in certain situations. In case you have My Uninstaller too, you should put this in the same folder as My Uninstaller.

To use it click on Add... and add one or more directories to the Folders list. Click on start and watch as it displays all duplicate files within those directories...After the files have been listed you can click on them in the list box to mark/unmark them for deletion. The marked files will be grayed. Below, a line will show the number of bytes wasted on the duplicate files (without cluster size correction). After marking some files you can click What If to see which files will still be listed if the marked files are deleted. Finally, you may click Delete to send them to the Recycle Bin. Right clicking on the results list box allows you to save current results or load previously saved results. This is especially useful for long scans which you do not want to repeat but in which you want to examine and mark files at your leisure.

I was fascinated by the overwhelming number of files duplicate in my PC, most likely you will be too. However, I must point out that it is not wise to remove the duplicate files if you are not certain that they are really unnecessary.

Hints

Auto Mark and Mark Folders work depending on current selection. They will try to leave exactly one of the currently unmarked files as unmarked. They will also not attempt unmark currently marked files. To use them without regard to current selection, click on Unmark All first and then use them.
Using shift key with certain buttons make them function differently. Shift+Add causes a blank folder to be inserted in the folder list at once. Shift+Remove causes all folders to be removed at once. Shift+Mark Folder automatically marks all the files which are in any of the currently selected folders.
There is a menu option to Integrate to Shell. If you have this checked, you can right click any folder any time and start Find Duplicates from the popup menu in Explorer.
Power users can put a shortcut of Find Duplicates to the Send To folder. (The Send To folder is usually a hidden folder located in the Windows directory for a Win98 system, or in Documents and Settings\<yourlogin> folder in the boot drive of WinXP system.) Putting it there will allow you to right click on a folder and 'send' it to Find Duplicates. You can also send multiple folders at the same time to get all of them in the list box.
If you need to see whether two different sets of folders have any files in common, this is precisely what Selected vs. Unselected button does. Add all the folders, then select a list of folders to define one of the sets (holding Ctrl while clicking will allow you to select multiple folders) - press the button - bingo!
I have chosen not to add ability to add of several directories at one go, owing to the way SHBrowseForFolder works (it could be done in a different way but - let's face it - I am lazy ). I figure, the best way to overcome this difficulty is to move the folders you want to be scanned and compared temporily into a new folder, and put them back when you are done! Or, if you have set up a shortcut of Find Duplicates in your Send To folder, you can select multiple folders and 'send' them all to Find Duplicates.

Version History

V 1.00	First public release.
V 1.10	Comparison phase is much faster and shows a progressbar. Added a popup menu to the list of results. Can compare a list of folders against another list of folders. Some more changes and upgrades.
V 1.10a	Added tooltips. Minor changes.
V 1.21	On request, added ability to interpret command-line. So you can create a shortcut to your Send To folder and send folders directly to Find Duplicates by right clicking on them. Also added a simple menu which allows integration with shell. Minor changes.
V 1.22	On request, added ability to export the list of duplicate files as HTML.
V 1.23	On suggestion, added ability to move the duplicate files to a folder. Keep sending the suggestions
V 1.24	Detects drag and drop of folders from the explorer.
V 1.25	Has an option to remove resulting empty folders - suggested by Marcus.
V 1.25a	Thanks to your suggestion, status display now formats the numbers using comma.

Donations

Initially I did not plan to ask for donations for using my softwares, since it gives me enough satisfaction to see these programs coming to somebody's use. But my mother has been recently diagnosed with Hepatitis C, whose treatment involves a costly therapy. If you liked any of my tools please feel free to donate; If you liked any of my tools please feel free to donate; I would gladly accept and appreciate any donations.

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