Trying to delete duplicate data is a long and tedious task, especially if you have a full hard drive. It is however very important. Having lot's of duplicates on your system can cause quite a few problems. They can slow down your system, cause DLL errors, blue screen crashes and clog up your hard drive so you can't install anymore data.
Where Did All These Duplicate Files Come From?
Ending up with duplicate files on your system will all depend on what you use your computer for. If you play games a lot then this could be where they are coming from. If you download films and music, or torrent files then you could have obtained them through the internet. One of the most frustrating ways to obtain duplicates is by uploading images to your system. This is the complaint that I hear most about. Nine time out of ten people will end up with double images because they will upload photos from a digital camera or SD card, take more photos, upload the new ones without deleting the one ones and therefore the old photos will get uploaded as well.
How Can I Eliminate Duplicate Files?
Unfortunately you can't automatically remove duplicate files with built in windows software. You can however use the built in system tools to remove data and reduce the errors that are caused by having lots of duplicates. I would recommend using the Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleanup utilities every couple of weeks. This will make sure that your system is running at optimum speed.
To manually locate and delete duplicates you will have to search for them yourself. The quickest way to do this is to:
1. Find a file that has a duplicate.
2. Note down what the file type is.
3. Open up the My Computer area.
4. Type the name of the file type into the search bar.
5. Once the list is populated put everything in alphabetical order.
6. Scroll down the files and delete icons with the same name.
7. Repeat the process for any other file type you need to remove.
8. Empty the recycle bin.
2. Note down what the file type is.
3. Open up the My Computer area.
4. Type the name of the file type into the search bar.
5. Once the list is populated put everything in alphabetical order.
6. Scroll down the files and delete icons with the same name.
7. Repeat the process for any other file type you need to remove.
8. Empty the recycle bin.
This isn't the most efficient method, but it does work very well. If you have a slow computer then you will probably have duplicate file paths in the system registry. I wouldn't recommend deleting these manually unless you know exactly what to do. You could end up corrupting data and causing more problems than it is worth.
Manually Removing Duplicate Files From The System Registry
If you want to remove data manually then I would recommend that you save all of the data that is currently stored in your registry. This will make sure that your computer can revert back to its previous state if you delete the wrong file or folder. To edit the files you must:
1. Press the Start button, then the Run icon, and search "regedit" inside the search area.
2. Navigate inside the folder that shows up on your desktop and press the File tab and then the Export option.
3. Save all of your data, preferably onto an external source.
4. Double click the folder that is labelled HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
5. Once you have deleted the files reboot your system.
2. Navigate inside the folder that shows up on your desktop and press the File tab and then the Export option.
3. Save all of your data, preferably onto an external source.
4. Double click the folder that is labelled HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
5. Once you have deleted the files reboot your system.
Sorting out the duplicates that are located on the system registry will help you increase your computers performance. If you follow these actions carefully then you shouldn't have a problems, however it isn't recommended.
Using Software To Detect Duplicate Files
This is definitely the quickest and easiest way to find and delete duplicate files. There is a program called the Duplicate File Cleaner. This software can automatically search your computer and delete duplicates with just the click of a button.
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It can be a very long and dangerous task if you decide to delete all of your duplicates manually. Downloading software is the safest and easiest way to optimize your system.
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