When Moving Files & Folders On A Pc ...

[joko]

I have loads of duplicates of files & im trying to wittle it down bit by bit as I find them.

I now have 3 over 35gb folders with mostly the same stuff in but also loads of other stuff - zillions of small files etc - and also loads of fonts.

Obviously i just need one - however, usually i just click replace the file in the new folder rather than skip it, as i dont then have to go and delete the original source folder - so i'm now wondering which is the quickest way to do this - assuming about half are new and half can be over written?

it never appears to be much quicker to skip identical files, as the computer still has to read each file - but does the action of replacing the original make it take much longer or is it pretty instant?

thanks :)

[ToraToraTora]

replace or not do almost exactly the same at a disc/SSD level. They both will write the file in new space but replace will also remove the directory entry for the old one. Better to replace if you know you can.

[Old_Geezer]

You can get free download programmes that'll search out and list duplicates for you. Quicker & easier than DIY, at least for a first pass.

[joko]

Thanks all.

I guess i'll just stick with replace, because it only replaces identical files, anything that is new or changed is added and a (1) (2) etc added to its name, & its automatic.
I have used duplicate finder before but they take forever as you still have to either tick the boxes yourself, or check the ones its ticked for you - and each folder is many hundreds of thousands of documents.