Are you aware that your computer’s hard drive can be loaded with 10GB of duplicate files? Ironically, there is no tool in Microsoft Windows that can find and delete cloned files.
Duplicate files are the same versions of files on your PC. These are created when data is stored in multiple locations or moved between different folders and drives.
If you are a power computer user with thousands of photos and images stored on your system, it is sure that your PC hosts large number of duplicate files. In most cases, we don’t need these cloned versions of the files as they eat up the computer’s RAM and make our data disorganized.
Identical files also have a major impact on your computer’s speed and performance. These files take up a lot of disk space, slow down your computer and, in some cases, cause the system to malfunction.
There are two ways to delete identical files: manually and automatically.
The first method allows you to manually browse all drives and folders on your hard drive to find and clean duplicate files. This process takes a lot of time and you must do this work with extreme care to avoid losing private data. Why avoid this method because you cannot easily separate original versions from their copies.
The second option is to use a duplicate files cleaner. This type of software is equipped with a strong and powerful scanning engine that scans all drives, folders and subfolders of your computer’s hard drive. The program searches for files with specific extensions such as music, videos, documents, and archives. It not only saves valuable time but also avoids deleting important system files. This is comparatively safer than manual scanning as good software would back up the data before deleting it.
There are countless programs on the Internet. Which one should you choose? Are free ones worth trying?
A good program would allow customization of the cleaning process. A user should be able to include/exclude specific directories. It should be able to specify specific extensions/file types. The program should not delete any files without user’s consent and the software should be able to delete duplicate data through an easy and quick process.
This exercise in double data cleaning can free up more PC space and keep your computers more organized.
