How do I delete duplicate pictures from my laptop?

[lucyshandbag]

After losing all my data on my laptop I managed to get my pictures retrieved, however because the laptop kept shutting down when the photos were being retrieved it has resulted in there being loads of copies of all of my photos. Is there an easy way to delete these without downloading any software? The photos show up and then each duplicate has (1) or (2) and so on , after it. I tried searching in my pictures for ( or (1), thinking just the duplicates would show up and then I could delete all of the selected files but all the pictures are coming up and it will take me forever to go through each one and delete it. Any ideas?

[boxtops]

Highlight the ones you want to delete, right click and select delete - that's how I do it. You may have to do it one at a time, IMO.

[sir.prize]

Depending on how many photos you have, save one of each to a folder then highlight the remainder and delete them.

[VHG]

To be sure you are not deleting the "masters" I would not delete them but copy the ones you think you dont want to an external hard drive.

I rarely delete anything straight off my hard disk, I copy files I dont want to an external hard drive and then only after a couple of months, if I am sure I dont want them, then I delete them.

In fact you should ALWAYS keep at least one spare copy of your photos on an external hard drive. Better still keep two copies, maybe one on a CD or DVD.

Laptops can be stolen, hard disks can fail, files can accidently be deleted, so you should always keep at least two copies of every important file.

[lucyshandbag]

The problem is that there are hundreds of photos and even more copies, loads of the photos have up to 12 copies so it's going to take me forever. I just thought there might be an easier way of selecting the copies. I should have backed them up before my laptop broke, a lesson well learned! I just wondered if there was a way to just select the files that have brackets in the title (ie. ima0223(1))as only the copies show up like this, but it isn't working. Any ideas on that or is it impossible??

[ChuckFickens]

I would have thought searching for

*(1)*.*

Would work

[ChuckFickens]

Having said that, searching for just (1) works for me too.

[sunny-dave]

or even *(*)*.*

should then pick up all copies but not the originals?

[echokilo]

holding down the CTRL key whilst selecting multiple pictures to delete will speed it up a little x

[MichaelZZ]

I used Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder a couple of years ago and it seemed to work OK.
However, before I recommend it I would like to see comments from other ABers (Are you there, Chuck?)
http://download.cnet....l?tag=contentBody;pop

[lucyshandbag]

The problem I'm having is that if I type into the search (1), all of the files with a number 1 anywhere in the title come up, a lot of which are the originals. I have just tried *(*)*.* and this doesn't work either, it just seems to be choosing random pictures from my folders. I'm a bit worried about using a software to do it as I've never had a lot of luck with free software, they always seem to mess up my laptop, and I'm so afraid of losing all of my photos again. If I were to take the laptop into a repair shop do you think they would be able to sort it out for me? It's driving me mad knowing all of my pictures are all jumbled up and messy!! Thanks for all the help so far though:)

[sarahwilliams25]

Here is what I think is the best tool:
Duplicate Photo Finder
Support for 100 popular image formats including Photoshop PSD and 300 RAW Camera Formats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emb7tOJTL0Q

[sarahwilliams25]

Missed the link sorry:
http://www.mindgems.com/products/VS-Duplicate-Image-Finder/VSDIF-About.htm

[camilasaunder89]

To get rid of duplicate photos quickly. I recommend using third-party software like "Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro" or "CCleaner". You can delete bulk photos within seconds with these software.