Help with Find Duplicate Files

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uroshnor
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Joined: 30.11.2021, 06:58

Help with Find Duplicate Files

#1 Post by uroshnor » 30.11.2021, 07:16

New user of FC, looks like it will be very handy. I have one question right away: I got FC for a particular reason today, that is to find and delete the duplicate files in a directory with thousands of files. I was able to find all the duplicate files with different dates of creation and delete the oldest ones. However, that leaves me with several hundred duplicate pairs that have the same size, creation and modification dates (but may or may not have the same filename). The problem is that the Duplicates Selection button only gives you options to select a duplicate for only those three criteria. How do you select duplicates when they have the same size, creation and modification dates?

Thanks for your good work!

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ralfso
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#2 Post by ralfso » 30.11.2021, 14:03

uroshnor wrote: 30.11.2021, 07:16 ...However, that leaves me with several hundred duplicate pairs that have the same size, creation and modification dates (but may or may not have the same filename). The problem is that the Duplicates Selection button only gives you options to select a duplicate for only those three criteria. How do you select duplicates when they have the same size, creation and modification dates?
If you use the search for Duplicates you have much more than three criteria to detect duplicates.
You can use "same content (MD5 sum)" without "same file name".

https://freecommander.com/fchelpxe/en/Duplicates.html
Regards
Ralf

Win10 (64-bit), Intel i7-2600 (3,4 GHz), 8 GB Ram, 500 GB SSD, 2x2000 GB HD, NVIDIA GeForce 545

uroshnor
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#3 Post by uroshnor » 01.12.2021, 08:21

Thanks for the quick response.

It's not finding the duplicates I'm having a problem with. Once I search for duplicates, I can select the unwanted duplicates with the Duplicates Selection tool and remove them--if they have different created dates, modified dates or file sizes. So I select and remove any duplicates matching those criteria. Now I have a much smaller list of duplicates, and each pair has the same created date, modified date and file size. (Most have different file names, the rest are in different sub-directories in the folder I searched.) So how do I select the remaining duplicates for removal? The Duplicates Selection tool can only select them if they have different created dates, modified dates or file sizes.

Thanks for you attention!

horst.epp
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Joined: 15.11.2008, 20:18

Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#4 Post by horst.epp » 01.12.2021, 10:41

Of course no software can "select the remaining duplicates for removal" in your case
as all conditions that can be checked are the same.
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uroshnor
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#5 Post by uroshnor » 01.12.2021, 13:41

That answer surprises me, for three reasons:

1) I'm a retired programmer/analyst and I can think of a couple of ways to do this off the top of my head.

2) I had programs that did this in 1987.

3) I took me 5 minutes to find a free program on the web that did exactly this, and 10 minutes to successfully remove my duplicates.

If your programmer(s) are telling you this can't be done, they need to take a fresh look at the problem.

Thanks for your assistance. I don't regret buying FC; I've already found several functions that will save me time and I've only scratched the surface. I just won't be using it to find duplicates. :lol:

horst.epp
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#6 Post by horst.epp » 01.12.2021, 14:54

You said size and date are the same and the filename is not a criteria.
Sorry, but if all crtiteria is the same how could a software select the right one to delete ?
Thats not possible whatever you say !
You would have to look into the content which is said to be equal by its hash
but may still be different.
If you insist of the possibility you don't know anything about programming
or don't tell us all conditions.
Please tell us the magic which your old style software uses to give you an automated answer.
Then Marek would be able to do what no other software currently can.
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Marek
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#7 Post by Marek » 01.12.2021, 20:15

I can think some more criteria:
- select all except the first in the group
- select all except the last in the group
- select all except the file with longest name in the group
- select all except the file with shortest name in the group
- select all except the file with longest path in the group
- select all except the file with shortest path in the group

Additional selection could be made
- with specification of the file name (or path) pattern.
- with specification of some file size

I will add these criteria in the future.

If you have some other/better criteria - let us know.

uroshnor
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#8 Post by uroshnor » 02.12.2021, 02:14

Marek:

Those criteria sound great, in fact more options than I would have suggested. Just the "select all except the first in the group" would do what I was looking for. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Horst:

You don't have to believe me--download DupeGuru; it's what I used and you can see it does exactly what you claim is impossible. Which, as I noted above, is as simple as selecting all dupes in a group except the first one.

Happy trails!

horst.epp
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#9 Post by horst.epp » 02.12.2021, 11:27

uroshnor wrote: 02.12.2021, 02:14 Marek:

Those criteria sound great, in fact more options than I would have suggested. Just the "select all except the first in the group" would do what I was looking for. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Horst:

You don't have to believe me--download DupeGuru; it's what I used and you can see it does exactly what you claim is impossible. Which, as I noted above, is as simple as selecting all dupes in a group except the first one.

Happy trails!
Sorry but there is no magic and no automatic selection in this tool.
If you have finally a list of duplicates you can show only the duplicates
but then you have to click (select) every singe entry in this list before making any actions.
So the only benefit compared to FC is showing a list of the duplicates only.

Btw. with my Total Commander I have much more confort on this stage
as I can select from the duplicates with several rules and don't have to click every entry.
Screenshot - 02.12.2021 , 14_54_51.png
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uroshnor
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#10 Post by uroshnor » 03.12.2021, 01:28

Horst:

You missed something in DupeGuru, apparently. Not entirely surprising, the interface is rather unorganized at best. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do what I wanted.

After you get the list of duplicate pairs, just click the "Dupes Only" checkbox, then Mark->Mark All, then Actions->Send Marked to Recycle Bin..., then click "Proceed" on the confirmation dialog. There are numerous options at each of those steps that allow you to do various things with the duplicate files, but all I wanted to do was delete them.

horst.epp
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#11 Post by horst.epp » 03.12.2021, 08:26

uroshnor wrote: 03.12.2021, 01:28 Horst:

You missed something in DupeGuru, apparently. Not entirely surprising, the interface is rather unorganized at best. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do what I wanted.

After you get the list of duplicate pairs, just click the "Dupes Only" checkbox, then Mark->Mark All, then Actions->Send Marked to Recycle Bin..., then click "Proceed" on the confirmation dialog. There are numerous options at each of those steps that allow you to do various things with the duplicate files, but all I wanted to do was delete them.
Ok, found it.
I prefer the options I have in Total Commander
but compared to FC dupeGuru is better.
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uroshnor
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Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#12 Post by uroshnor » 04.12.2021, 02:29

Horst:

I downloaded Total Commander, I'll check it out. Looks great on a quick scan of the options.

Happy Trails!

horst.epp
Posts: 460
Joined: 15.11.2008, 20:18

Re: Help with Find Duplicate Files

#13 Post by horst.epp » 04.12.2021, 10:16

uroshnor wrote: 04.12.2021, 02:29 Horst:

I downloaded Total Commander, I'll check it out. Looks great on a quick scan of the options.

Happy Trails!
Before you search longer:
Search / Advanced / Find Duplicate Files
Feed the results to Listbox
Hit Num+ to select which duplicates should be selected
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