DigitalVolcano
Duplicate Cleaner V1.1
For Updates check www.digitalvolcano.co.uk
Requirements
Microsoft Windows 98,ME,2000,XP
Installation
Double click on the DuplicateCleaner.exe file in
Windows Explorer. You will be guided
through a simple automatic install process to the location of your choice.
Usage
Warning:
Always remember that data should be backed up
regularly. We take no liability for any data lost or damaged through use or
misuse of this software. We recommend
that important data is backed up prior to the use of this software, and deletion
to the recycle bin is always selected. Also, you should always check that your
recycle bin is enabled in Windows' own settings (right click-properties on
bin).
Search Location - where to look.
This default mode will scan any file according to the
filter criteria you specify. You can choose from one of the preset filters
(graphics file, MS Office files, Movies, etc) or you can type in your own. The filters are separated by a semicolon (;).
You may specify to search for duplicates by any
combinition of:.
*
Same Content (CRC 32 checksum)
*
Same File Name
*
Same Size
*
Same Date (Note - this is the file's Modified Date)
Same content (CRC) is the default option. When this
option is ticked files will be classed as duplicates if they have identical content.
This means they could have a different date, file name, etc.
Music Search
This special mode will seach music files and read the
extra information contained within the file - Song title, Artist, Length, Bit
Rate, etc. The currently supported formats are MP3, WMA,OGG,APE and FLAC. This information can then be used as an
additional tool when deciding which files to delete.
You may specify to search for duplicates by any
combinition of:.
*
Same Title
*
Same Album
Some examples:
I want to find duplicates that are exactly the same
- Select 'Same Content' only
I want to find different versions of the same named
document
- Select 'Same name' only
I want to find if I have multiple copies of MP3 files
- Try Music Search with 'Same Artist' and 'Same Title'
only checked. You should also do a
separate 'Same Content' file search as
well, to catch any duplicate files with missing tags.
In both modes you can specify and minimum and maximum
file size in KB (Kilobytes). If this is
set to 0 then it is ignored.
Now you are ready to start the scan. Click on the
'Start' button to the bottom left to begin. This may take a while depending on
the number of files in your folders and the size of the files. It may take
longer to scan a networked drive than a local one. A Percentage progress is displayed to the
bottom left of the window. Once the scan
is complete a summary is displayed and any duplicate sets are show in the main
window. You can cancel the scan by
clicking on the 'Cancel' button which appears in place of the 'Start' button
once the scan is underway. Note that
this may take a short time to respond depending on the status of the scanning
process.
Results are displayed in the various tabs:
The duplicate sets are listed here. They are divided
into colour coded 'groups'. Each item in
a group is classed as 'the same' according your search criteria.
You can right-click on a file to get a context menu
with additional actions for the selected file.
This is a list of all files included in the scan, with
attribute information. Double click on a file to open/view it.
This is a list of files which have a size of 0, ie. No
content. Technically, they are all duplicates.
They will be listed in the main duplicate files list if specified in the
options.
You can now select files to delete. This should only
be done if you are sure that the deleted files are not required! If in doubt,
leave alone. To mark a file for deletion, in the 'Duplicate Files' tab either
click on the checkbox or use the right-click context menu. You can also double
click on a file to open it in it's native application for further
investigation.
The selection assistant can also help with the marking
of files. It can-
* Select oldest or newest file date in each group
* Select smallest or largest file size in each group
* Select all but one file in each group
* Select everything
* Select nothing
Additionally, when in Music Search mode you can select
for deletion by audio tags. Options are-
*
Keep highest bit rate
*
Keep highest sample rate
*
Keep longest length
You can also select by a pattern in the file or folder
name. For instance if you want to mark everything contained in a 'temp' folder
you can use the expression */temp/* in the Path section. Or to select all .bak
files you could enter *.bak in the Filename section.
When you are happy with your selection, click on the
'Delete Checked Files' button to delete your selection. The files will be moved
to the recycle bin unless otherwise specified in the options.
Exporting Scan Results
At any point after the scan your results list can be
exported to a CSV (Comma Separated Value) text file which can be open in a
spreadsheet or database program. Click on the 'Export Results' button and
specify a file name.
Updates in this Version 1.1
- Multiple folder scans
- Multiple speed optimisations - can run up to 10
times faster.
- Specify file size range
- Faster support for more music formats & improved
music search.
- Tabbed interface
Additional Credits
This program uses the freeware AudioGenie control
(http://www.audiogenie.de/)