Duplicate Files Finder
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Duplicate Files Finder is an application which searches for duplicate files
(files which have the same content, but not necessarily the same name)
and lets the user remove duplicate files, either by deleting them or by creating links.
The search is very fast compared to other similiar programs which use hashing algorithms
(see
description of the Duplicate Files Finder algorithm).
Duplicate Files Finder supports the following platforms:
- The Windows 9x family (Windows 95, 98, ME)
- The Windows NT family (Windows NT, XP, 2000, Vista)
- POSIX-like operating systems (Unix, Linux)
- Byte by byte comparison
- Fast search
- Support for hardlinks and symbolic links
- User interface for deleting files and creating links
- Many search options
Choosing the directories to search in and search options
Searching
The results
The algorithm is as follows: First, all files are sorted by their size, because files can be
only equal, if they have the same size (logically).
Then the files are compared with each other, and thus the equal files are determined. If two
files are not equal from a given point on, reading is interrupted; no more has to be read for
determining that these files are not equal.
Because of this the results are determined much faster
than in programs which use hashing algorithms, for which all files have to be read completely.
Additional caching of the contents of the files additionally improves performance.