Overview

If you finally think it’s time to get your computer cleaned and organized, then one of the first tools you should use is a duplicate file finder, in order to find copies of files located in different directories. A tool like this is Fast Duplicate File Finder, which has several features like a binary comparison scanning method, a built-in file previewer, system file protection and others.

Installation

The program has a very easy installation that can be performed by anyone. There are only a few steps in it and none of them has advanced settings. The software is clean from malware and doesn’t install any extra software - see report.

Supported operating systems are Windows 98, ME, 2000, 2003, NT, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and all Windows Server editions.

Interface

This software has most of its features on the main screen, apart from a few dialog boxes (e.g. Quick Check, Options). Below the toolbar is the file list area where all found duplicates are displayed, and from below you can configure a few settings as well as see a preview of the currently selected file. From the right-hand side you can select the folders you want to scan and choose scanning method.

Pros

The fact that there are 3 scanning methods gives you more ways to search for duplicate files depending on your needs. The fastest method is the one that searches for 100% identical files, unlike the other two which search for duplicates based on a similarity percentage that you define; if you wish to find similar files that are not exactly the same you can use either the “Similar Files” method (content-based search) or the “Similar File Names” method (filename-based search). After the scanning process finishes you can see the results in the list of duplicate files and mark the ones you want to move/delete manually, or use the Auto Check feature to mark them automatically. In order for this feature to work you must first configure it a bit, like select whether you want it to check files with older or newer dates, smaller or bigger sizes and make other settings. Checked files can then be moved to another directory or deleted. For every result you can see its file name, folder, file size, date/time, similarity and group (the duplicates are categorized in groups).

A preview of media files, texts files and documents is possible using the preview screen.

There’s an option in the program that protects system files and folders from being included in the results, so you can use it without fear of damaging your system.

Cons

The filtering function is disabled in the free version and that is a quite big limitation. Other than that, everything worked as expected during our test.

Alternatives

Here are a few alternatives worth checking out: Duplicate Cleaner (paid), CloneSpy (free), Easy Duplicate File Finder (paid), Auslogics Duplicate File Finder (free) and AllDup (free).

Conclusion

Fast Duplicate File Finder is definitely a program worth trying out; the various program settings can make the searches for duplicate files as precise as you want them to be. Although it has its limitations, it still is a highly recommended product that will certainly satisfy you.