File management software needed

[bababoo]

Hi

I am looking for a file management/sorting software, that I can use to sort out some backup hard drives. To ensure I never lost any data I regularly backed up my main computer drive to external drives. Unfortunately I never set up some sort of system to do this, I just copied everything over to a drive, every time. Now I have a problem.

I have 4 external Drives, each drive has varying amounts of data on it. So one drive might have 4 or 5 back ups on it. These could contain the same files but also have new ones. Each drive could have differnt back up to the others.

So as this problem has got worse, I kept putting off sorting it out, but now I cant find anything. I have tried going trough each folder manually and checking each file, but that was time consuming and frustrating.

Does anyone know of a software that will help me this. Something that can compare file names and creation dates so I can review and delete the doubled up data. It is mainly photos and movies, but some word, excel, power point etc....

Your help is appreciated

Bababoo

 

[LookinAround]

***
I haven't used it in awhile, but has helped me find and delete file dups in the past.. Suggest you first play with it using some test folders/file copies you create.. AND THEN USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

But check out Duplicate File Finder to find/ remove dups (and is FREEWARE)

Note the more folder/files you want to compare the longer it will take to run (I don't know its possible dup file # limits, etc. Play with it but here's a few tips to start

Under the Search Criteria tab
> Add the paths to the top level folders you want it to search for dups (as i recall it will include all the subfolders in its search)
> For File Search, click Same Content and Same File Name (will compare all files in the search folders for IDENTICAL filename AND content by calculating/comparing the CRC of file with identical filenames)
> Click Go

When search is done, you see a list of a file dup groups (in alternate colors by group). YOu can manually check what to delete but is a pain. Instead, use the Selection Assistant to automatically check things for you (e.g. by oldest file, newest, or path or filename selection criteria) etc
> Then close Search Assist when looks good
> Click Remove Selected

/* EDIT */
p.s. If you find it's just wayyy too much for it to search through all folders on all drives in a single search, you might need to settle (or at least start) with a subset (e.g. just searching thru each drive one at a time to remove dups on the drive)
AND/OR
Starting with even SMALLER folders at first just to also make sure it's doing what you want and you know what you're doing when you tell it what to delete!

 

[LookinAround]

And in the future, google and check out EASUS ToDo backup to run full and incremental backups for you (also freeware)

 

[cliffordcooley]

Total Commander - home

Features in Total Commander:

• Two file windows side by side
• Multiple language and Unicode support
• Enhanced search function
• Compare files (now with editor) / synchronize directories
• Quick View panel with bitmap display
• ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ, CAB, ACE archive handling + plugins
• Built-in FTP client with FXP (server to server) and HTTP proxy support
• Parallel port link, multi-rename tool
• Tabbed interface, regular expressions, history+favorites buttons
• Thumbnails view, custom columns, enhanced search
• Compare editor, cursor in lister, separate trees, logging, enhanced overwrite dialog etc.
• Unicode names almost everywhere, long names (>259 characters), password manager for ftp and plugins, synchronize empty dirs, 64 bit context menu, quick file filter (Ctrl+S)
• New: USB port connection via special direct transfer cable, partial branch view (Ctrl+Shift+B), and many improvements to ftp, synchronizing and other functions
• And many more!

Even though I swear by Total Commander and have used it for over 15 years (Since Win95), I have rarely convinced anyone it is a better file manager than Windows Explorer. Anyone that has taken the time to learn Total Commander would probably agree. However if you are are hard set on doing things the Windows Explorer way, Total Commander will not be for you. You must first be willing to learn a different way of managing files. Who knows you may find you like the program, only one way to know for sure.

 

[TeddySmith]

Yes, I also had this kind of difficulty backing up files but the worst is I deleted some important files before backing up. Can I recover it?

 

[bababoo]

Depending on how you deleted them and what you have written to the disk in the meantime, will result if you can recover them. Most files are not "deleted" from the disk, that space is just made available to be written on. If you search the internet for an "undelete program" you can recover these files. If you have used a deleting/shredding program they tend to write over the file location on the disk multiple times to remove any trace of the file.

 

[CAMusing]

http://download.cnet.com/File-Sorting-Utility/3000-2141_4-10133991.html

 

[simoness12]

I recommend you to take a look at this file management software. You can set up your own file server for managing and sharing files through web browser. It's like DropBox but self-hosted so that you can keep all your confidential files on your own server. The web based UI looks and feels like Windows 7 Explorer. It offers features that are not possible with a FTP server such as zipping files, downloading multiple files and folders in single download etc. It's also easier to set up and administrate than a FTP server.