Transferring data files from one harddrive to another without duplicating files

I am in the process of "moving into" a new HP Win7 desktop computer and out of a winXP Gateway desktop. I have two 1GB portable drives to use for this process. What is the best freeware to use to transfer the files without copying files I already moved so as to not generate a gazillion duplicate files?? Does that freeware have the ability to have a decision tree to asses whether a particular file is different than the one already there, and how it is different: content change, modified date, ??

Thanks for your help... JDD 20140505

 

I would use a file synchronisation program for this, such as Microsoft's SyncToy or SyncBack Free. You set up profiles for syncing folders and set the criteria to be used in the decision making process when two files of the same name exist in both source and destination drives. I haven't used SyncToy in many years, but do know it works well, and use SynvBack Free all the time.

SyncToy - http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=15155

SyncBack Free - http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html

 

Welcome to Major Geeks!

Erring on the side of caution, I prefer to transfer first and research duplicate files later once all the data has been transferred.

For example, there may be four distinct files in different folders simply named "Resume." If a program only scans for duplicate names, there is the possibility it will only copy over one of the "Resume" files and ditch the rest - even if the others happen to be different versions or for a different person.

I do not know which programs are smart enough to catch the differences and which ones aren't. In Windows, If I get a prompt that a file named "Resume" has already been copied, I'll choose the option to "Copy and keep both files" which automatically names the second file "Resume(1)."

Documents, pictures and music (.mp3 or .wma) are usually smaller files that don't take up much hard drive space. Once again, I'd rather have two identical copies as opposed to losing non-identical ones forever.

 

You are erring too much on the side of caution. Sync programs only sync between two folders, not whole drives or head folders like My Documents. So you just take it a folder at a time. The sync options enable you to be very precise about what action is to be taken in any particular set of circumstances.