finding files that are different on 2 drives

Hi. Thank you Kees. The thing is that there are hundreds of folders. While some files (not many) have the same name, they are generally different sizes. Many programs for managing files can consider name and size and date when finding files. Those criteria would be enough, in my case to differentiate between files. It is not CRITICAL that I end up with a copy of EVERY single file...just VIRTUALLY every single file. I am trying to avoid spending a whole day or two sort and making new folders. My plan is to put all of the files that are on the first drive, but not on the second one, into one single folder...or at least all of each TYPE of file in one giant folder for that type of file (jpg, mp3, doc, mpg, etc). In other words, I don't need them to end up in many different folders, I just want the comfort of knowing that I have one copy of most files I own archived on a big drive. I have probably 450,000 media and document files. Any ideas? It seems it should be simple.

System & Application files? If so, I would avoid attempting anything like that.

If you move/delete critical files from the hard drive where the OS is installed you can quickly make the OS unusable. If you have applications installed on a drive other than where the OS is, and try to move/delete any of those files, then the application may fail.

As Kees inferred, it is incredibly difficult to decide which files are duplicates of what, and if they are, whether the OS needs them where they are or whether they can be moved or deleted.

But may be we have got this wrong. You say 'making new folders'. What are you trying to achieve? Normal Copy/Paste of system and application files and folders doesn't work as a backup and attempting to "Restore" from those will likely end in failure.

However, if you are looking at slimming down personal files, like documents, photos, music, videos, and so on, there is often only the hard way, check each file and decide what to do.

Mark

I do not know of a program that can identify such files as specified, but you can accomplish your goals using a two-step process:

1.) Run a synchronization application, such as SyncToy, SyncBack, etc. Have changes synced in both directions and, in cases, of conflict, either keep both (auto-rename) or choose the most recent version.

2.) Run a duplicate file checker, such as Auslogics Duplicate File Finder on each drive individually, deleting any duplicates that the synchronization process created.

Once complete, both drives will contain all of your files, and the same organizational structure will be used on both drives to limit confusion when searching for files in the future.

Hope this helps,
John

Thank you very much for your ideas. First, all files are media and document files. I am not working with Drive C. Actually I do not want to end up with both drives synchronized. This is part of a process on one by one taking a group of older external drives, each with hundreds of folders on them and 250,000+ files on them and slowly taking files from all of them in a process to end up with one much larger drive having at least on copy of every file I own on it. The following is another way to explain my needs (I described it this way, in an email to a friend....it describes a step in the process): I have two drives. On drive ONE I have many folders and files. On drive TWO I also have many files and folders. I need to find a program or some other way to see (and move) the files that are on drive ONE but that are not on drive TWO. I then want to move them to one large new folder, no matter what type files they are. There may be some files with duplicate names but they will, in most cases, have different sizes or dates on them. The method I use would have to be able to look at those file attributes also (name, size, date). It is not critical that I have copies of every single file end up on drive TWO (this may happen when a file gets overwritten in the process when it DOES happen to have the same name and size as the file overwriting it). I just need to end up with VIRTUALLY (almost) every file on drive TWO. Each drive has hundreds of folders and maybe 500,000 files on them. I am using Wi9ndows 7 Home Premuim.

The program would have to make a new filename if the name is the same and the size is different (possibly the date - creation date, modification date?). That's very uncommon for a backup program, to change the name of the file.

Moreover, making a folder with 1 million files in it is rather inefficient (and might be beyond practical the limit of Windows), and it certainly would be unmanageable.

It might be better to give up, just copy folders, and accept there are duplicates on that big target drive.

Kees

The same basic process applies, with the exceptions that you would only sync (mirror) the data in one direction (from the old hdd to the new backup hdd) and only run the duplicate file checker on the new hdd once completed with all of the syncs.

Also, I agree with Kees: performance and technical limitations make it wise to avoid storing ALL personal files in a single folder, beyond the basic organization argument.

Regards,
John

Thanks everyone. John, what program should I use (preferable free or cheap)? The ones I have tried (and that my simple mind can understand) only displayed files that were found in folders with the same name and location on both drives. What program can you recommend that will NOT require that BOTH drives have identical folders in order to show the files that are missing (not synced) on one of the drives?

it's a nice programming task. The easiest way is to use the filesystem object in vbscript. That will be a totally new experience for you, I think.

Kees

But then again, Powershell has a hefty learning curve, much like VBScript. A prepacked program with a solid user interface is always best for the non-developer, even if the program is a little less efficient.

John

SyncToy and SyncBack are two of many options that can complete the task at hand. They won't give you a list of files that exist on one drive and not another, and they will go folder-by-folder, but a one-way sync is the first phase in reaching your goal. (The second being the use of a duplicate file finder.) It may sound like an odd strategy when you're trying to not sync your hard drives, but it is a solid workaround that accomplishes the same goal with minimal effort given the lack of a program that functions exactly as you desire.

John

Thanks for your generous, knowledgeable John. Sounds good. I will try it.
Bob