How to Delete Duplicate Files on Windows XP To Free Space

[Mastermind]

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Even if you're a computer user keen on keeping your system healthy (i.e., you regularly delete unnecessary files, empty the Recycle Bin, and run Disk Defragmenter), you may be unaware of a potentially big waster of hard disk space: duplicate files. Applications can litter your hard disk with duplicate files, or you can actually create duplicate files by copying files from one folder to another.

Windows XP's default installation doesn't provide you with a decent utility for tracking down duplicate files. However, Microsoft does have a tool called Duplicate Finder, which is part of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools. Here's how to install and use the Duplicate Finder tool:

1. Download the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools and follow the instructions for installing the Complete installation version.
2. Open the Run dialog box by pressing [Windows]R.
3. Type Dupfinder in the Open text box and click OK.
4. Once DupFinder loads, simply select the drive or folder to search and then click the Start Search button.
5. When DupFinder completes its search, you can scan through the list and examine the duplicate files.

Here are tips for working with the list of duplicate files:

• Use either the Print Report or Export Data commands on the File menu to create a permanent record of the duplicate files.
• Use the Sort command on the View menu to reorganize the list for better analysis.
• To get more detailed information about any file, select the file, pull down the File menu, and select the Info command.
• Leave duplicate files in the Windows folder and its sub folders alone.
• If you don't recognize the duplicate file, it's better to use the Rename or Move commands on the File menu rather than the Delete command.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.

[Lillebror]

To find dupes in a directory structure try this:

PS> gci . *.txt -r | ?{!$_.PSIsContainer} |
%{$files=@{}}{if ($files[$_.name]) {$obj = new-object psobject;$obj |
add-member NoteProperty Path $_.fullname;$obj |
add-member NoteProperty Original $files[$_.name]; $obj}
else {$files[$_.name]=$_.fullname}} | ft -groupby Original Path

If the output looks good and you are comfortable with what is showing up in the "Path" field on the output, then remove the "ft -groupby Original path" part and replace it with "remove-item -whatif". After you have examined what will be deleted and are comfortable with that, then remove the -what if and let 'er rip.

I use duplicate finder 2009, it helped me to find and delete duplicate files from my Drive to free up my wasted disk space, it has great feature in which u can move or delete the selected files or folders. i found it on google search it says it can remove duplicates with great accurecy.

[Muhammadi]

Its very nice information it wil help me a lot