Duplicate Cleaner is a sophisticate duplicate file finder with lots of options to configure the scanning and duplicate file checking. The main program window is used to configure the search criteria. Duplicate Cleaner can be configured to find files based on the following parameters:

• Same content (checked by comparing MD5 hashes)
• Same file name
• Same size
• Same created date
• Same modified date
• For music files: same artist, same title, same album

Filters can be added to reduce the number of files to be scanned by the program. It is possible to configure a file size filter, which will only scan files of a specific size range, file dates, which will only scan files that have been created or modified between dates specified and file name filters that can be used to include or exclude files based on names and extensions. All file scanning parameters can be combined in the scan.

Folders, partitions and drives can be added easily in the same window. Only the selected folders will be scanned by the duplicate file finder.

The time it takes to scan the folder depends on the speed of the hard drive and computer, as well as the files and folders and how much disk space they occupy on the selected drives. A report is displayed at the end of the scan listing the number of files that have been scanned, the time it took to scan the files and the number and size of the duplicate files that have been found.

A listing of all duplicate files is then displayed to the user. Individual files can be selected manually, and a preview is available for images for a visual aid.

The Selection Assistant can aid the user if many duplicate files have been found on the system.

Here it is possible to select multiple files at once, based on lots of different criteria including:

• Shortest or longest filename
• Oldest or newest file based on creation / modification
• Smallest or largest file
• By audio attributes (keep highest bitrate, highest sample rate, longest length)
• By text patterns in file name, path, sitze and lots of other variables. Supports regular expressions
• By location based on a selected path

Once the duplicate files have been selected for removal it is possible to configure deletion options. Standard options exist like deleting the duplicates to the recycle bin / without moving them to the recycle bin. Interesting options are available to automatically rename the duplicate files, move or copy them instead or create hardlinks (only on NTFS file systems). The option to create hardlinks could be interesting for users who fear that the removal of files could result in dead links or accessibility problems.

It is additionally possible to remove empty folders in the process. Duplicate Cleaner is an impressive program that comes with lots of additional options that have not been mentioned yet. It is for instance possible to change the file comparison algorithm, include network drives in the search and to import and export the results to CSV files.

Here is the feature list of Duplicate Cleaner as listed on the developer website:

• Find Duplicate Files by content, fast!
• Cleaner hard drives means faster performance
• Fast Scanning and accurate duplicate comparison (Uses the MD5 Hash algorithm)
• Deep scans music – locate duplicate music formats (MP3, iTunes, etc)
• Flexible search parameters
• Intelligent Selection Assistant
• Search home or networked drives
• Search multiple locations
• Export / Import results in CSV format
• View Path,Size and Date of files
• Large, resizable list window
• Image preview window
• Delete duplicate files to the Recycle bin
• Move dupe files to a new location
• Turn duplicate file into hard links (NTFS file systems only)
• Protection for Windows and system files
• Supports multiple languages

Duplicate Cleaner Download And Compatibility

It is surprising that this high quality application is available free of charge. It is one of the best duplicate cleaners available for the Windows operating system. The duplicate file finder is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It should also run fine on Windows Server installations. Downloads and additional information are available at the developer website at DigitalVolcano.co.uk.

Experienced users know that this methodology can only uncover identical files but not duplicate files that do not have the same file size. Two photos that show the same scenery would for instance not be detected as duplicates if their file size would not be identical (that is the case if they have different resolutions for instance).

The hash generation on the other hand ensures that only absolute identical files will be detected as duplicates which might be exactly what the user wants to achieve. The program uses Java which is the reason why it is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac. It does however mean that Java needs to be installed on the computer system.

The user can add one or multiple directories in the program interface. All, including their subdirectories, will be scanned for duplicate files. An option is provided to exclude files from the scan by either using wildcards or regular expressions.

All duplicate files are displayed after the scan in the interface. They are grouped together to make the identification easier. Each result can be checked individually or by using the pulldown menu at the bottom to make the selection (for instance all but the newest, all but the first or all files).

Duper is available from the developer’s website. It is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. (via Addictive Tips)

SoftChronizer is a duplicate file finder for Windows that can scan the PC and compare files found to display the duplicates in its interface.

The left sidebar of the program contains links to the program’s options, search parameters and file filters. Each have to be configured and selected before the search.

The duplicate file filter can filter files by type with pdf, mp3 and pictures offered besides a wildcard search that displays and checks all file types in the selected directory.

SoftChronizer supports normal and binary comparisons and can also compare by file size and file name again with the option to do a basic size or name comparison or use Fuzzy Logic to do so.

The scan of the target directory is very fast. It is possible to select a partition of the computer or a folder on the hard drive. The duplicate file finder will automatically scan the subdirectories of the selected root folder as well, a parameter that can be changed in the program’s options.

All duplicate files will then be displayed in the program’s interface after the very fast scan of the selected folder. The application lists the directory, file name, size and other information in its interface.

A pulldown menu is available for each item in the results that can be used to delete or move the selected file. The duplicates are color coded to make the detection easier. It is however not possible to select multiple duplicates at once, use automatic duplicate file deletion, sort the results or to select another file filter.

This makes the program impracticable for large amounts of data that needs to be compared and cleaned of duplicates.

There is also no build in preview feature to take a look at pictures or documents right from the program’s interface. A double-click will launch the selected file in the default viewer which is not very comfortable.

Installation

This is not the usual Giveaway of the Day installation. The zip file contains the setup program to install the duplicate file finder, a readme with instructions on how to install, activate.exe to activate the program and the file gacasreg.bin which needs to be moved into the program directory after installation.

Positive

• Very fast scan
• Fuzzy Logic to find duplicate files even if their names are not identical

Negative

• Cannot scan multiple drives at once
• Results cannot be sorted, changing filters is not possible
• No build in preview of results
• No automatic cleaning
• Multiple selections not possible
• Duplicate file scan parameters limited to file size, name and binary comparison.

Clone Spy is a free alternative duplicate file finder that supports many of the features that Softchronizer does not. It can for instance automatically delete duplicate files, exclude files and folders from the scan and more.

Softchronizer is a fast duplicate file finder with several usability issues that make the program less than ideal for most uses. It is currently offered for free at the Giveaway of the Day website. The developer’s website is accessible here.

The Duplicate File Finder by software developer Auslogic is one of the duplicate file finders available for the Windows operating system. The interface has been designed with ease of use in mind. It begins by selecting folders or hard drives that should be checked for duplicates. It is possible to select multiple folders and drives or just one.

The options of the duplicate file scan are configured in the next screen once the folder and drive selection has been made. The options are divided in the three categories matching criteria, advanced criteria and file types.

Matching criteria defines the aspects of the files that should be matched with each other. These are the name, date and time and size by default with the option to add contents as well (resulting in a slower scan) or remove one of the other criteria.

Advanced criteria can be used to filter out files with a size lower than the size specified in this section of the configuration. File types finally makes it possible to only scan specific file types or all files in the selected folders.

A list of results is then displayed after the program finished the scan. File names, sizes, locations and last modified dates are displayed with the option to select some or all of the files so that they can be deleted. The Duplicate File Finder can be downloaded from the Auslogics website.

Duplicate file finders like Duplicate Cleaner aid the user in finding duplicate files. The software program has been designed to scan a computer system thoroughly for duplicate files. It provides access to a file search but also to a specialized music search in its interface. The music search will scan mp3, wma, ogg, flac and ape files on the computer system and compare artists, titles and albums in the meta tags plus the usual file size and file name. Files on the other hand can be checked for various parameters including crc, name, file size and date.

Specific folders and partitions can be added to the scan which will create three listings in the end. One will display the duplicate files found in the selected folders, another will display all zero byte files and the last will display all files that have been scanned by the program.

A selection assistant is provided to make the selection of duplicate files easier. The options offered are quite extensive. It is possible to keep audio files with the highest bitrate, length or sample rate. Other filters include selection by date and time, file size, group, pattern in name or path and those that are not located in a master path.

Scan time will vary depending on the parameters of the scan, the number of folders and files and the speed of the drives. Duplicate Cleaner is a sophisticated computer software program to find duplicates on a computer system.