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How to Use Duplic8

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I'm sorry for the delay, but I am now proud to present the "How to use Duplic8" page....

The golden rule to remember about Duplic8, is that you cannot do any damage, or delete anything from your system without clicking the "Delete" button. Even if you do press the delete button by mistake, Duplic8 will ask if you are sure you want to delete the files. So feel free to have a play about, and learn just what Duplic8 can do for you....

Duplic8 works by searching the directories you tell it to search in the search path list, which is situated at the top right hand side of the screen.

So to search for duplicate files you need to put the directories into this list. You have several methods available to do this....

Populating the search path list

1) Type the directory path into the path editor box above the search path list, and click the "add" button. The add button will only work once a valid path has been entered into the the path editor.

Clicking the add button will add the path in the path editor to the search path list.

2) Use the path picker on the top left hand side of the screen to select directories. As you click on the directory tree, and open and close directory branches, you will notice the path editor changing to reflect your movements around the path picker. When you see the path you want in the path editor, click the "add" button.

You can use the path picker to fill in the path editor for you.

3) Use the normal windows explorer to look around your computer for the folder(s) you want, and then hold the left mouse button down on the folder and drag it onto any part of the Duplic8 then drop it. This will add the directory to search path list. You can do this one at a time, or grab a group of folders and drop them onto Duplic8 in one go. You can even drag and drop a folder shortcut onto Duplic8, and it will extract the real directory path from the shortcut's information.

If you have subdirectory searching selected and add a parent of one of the search path folders into the search path, the lower folders will be removed. For example, if you have "c:\temp" and "c:\stuff" in the search path, and you add "c:\", the first two will be removed, because "c:\" includes them both.

If you put a folder into the search path by mistake, just click on it with the mouse, and press the "remove" button. This will only remove the folder from the search list, it will not delete anything from your machine.

Oops, I didn't want that path. No problems just use the remove button to remove it from the search path list.

Once you are happy with the search path list, select the file filter you would like from the file filter list on the left hand side of the screen, and press "Search".

Duplic8 will display your current search defaults so you can check/change them (by default Duplic8 will search subdirectories and delete to the recycle bin). Once happy with the search options, click the "Search" button and away it goes.

Check the search settings, and away we go.

Once Duplic8 has finished searching a box will pop up telling you how many duplicate files have been found, and the amount of wasted space these duplciate files are using...

I've got a few duplicate files.

The next step is to select which files you want to delete..

Marking files for deletion.

There are a couple of ways to mark files for deletion...

1) You can manually go down the list and mark each one, one at a time. You do this by either pressing space on the keyboard to select the current one, or by pointing at the file you want to mark and double clicking with the mouse.

2) Needless to say, the first option is very slow if you have a lot of files. The best option is to use the Mark Wizard. To use the Wizard, right click on a file (usually best to do this on a file you want to remove as the Wizard will use some of the files information to try and guess what files you want to mark).

Picking my first victim.

The right click menu gives you access to extra features such as unmarking all the files or opening the file in whatever application is registered on your computer to read that type of file (the application to be used is shown in the brackets after the "Open file").

If you select the Mark Wizard you will see the following screen....

Using the Mark Wizard to mark the easy way.

The Mark Wizard will open with the path of the file you right clicked on in the path box at the top. You can edit this, or change it completely if you like.

As you can see there is a lot of power wrapped up in the Wizard, and it's one of Duplic8's unique features. If you make a habit of downloading files into a temporary directory before putting them into an organised archive it's very simple to get Duplic8 to mark all the files for you. Simple search the two paths (c:\download and c:\archive for example) and then right click on any matched file in the download directory, select the Mark Wizard and then just select "Mark all files in this directory and below". Duplic8 will them mark all the files in your c:\download directory (or it's subdirectories) for you.

The Mark Wizard does NOT delete anything, it only marks file for deletion. You can manually add or remove the delete mark from any, or all of the files. You can run the Mark Wizard several times for different directories and rules. It will never mark all the files in a matched group. If the Mark Wizard finds a matched group of files that are all marked, it will remove the mark from the last one.

You can zoom in and out of the matched file list, and even resize the columns or the entire Duplic8 screen to get a better view of the files.

Zooming in, and resizing for a better look.

Once you are happy with the files selected, press the "Delete" button.

Waving goodbye to the duplicate files


Answer "Yes" to the "Are you sure", and Duplic8 will delete the marked files. By default these files will be deleted to the recycle bin, so even if you do press delete and then say "Yes" by mistake, you can still get them back! How safe is that?

What can I delete?

I often get emails from people saying Duplic8 has found this file, or that file, and is it safe for them to delete it?
I have a golden rule regarding deleting files. If your not sure what it is, or what it does.... DON'T!

Any files found in, or below the "c:\windows" directory ("c:\winnt" for Nt and Windows 2000 systems) or "c:\program files" should not be deleted. Anything with .dll or .exe on the end of the name should also be left alone.

Duplic8 is really for controlling archives and collections of your own files (pictures, midi, mp3's etc), not programs. Programs should always be removed using the "Add/Remove" Program option in the Windows control panel.

If you have any comments about these instructions please feel free to drop me a line. duplic8@kewlit.com

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All specifications and prices quoted are correct at time of publishing.
Prices and specification are subject to change without notice.