Eliminate Duplicate Files

Hello all. I have a ton of duplicate files on my computer, and it is too much to delete by hand, nor is my skill level high. Can anyone recommend a simple to use program that will automatically remove at least some of the duplicates? I'm on a Dell business machine using windows 7. Thank you.

 

Are these duplicated files your own data files? Cause if they are Windows or various apps files, I would leave them alone. Unless you know what you are doing (or are truly desperate for disk space). As well, unless you have particularly big duplicated files, you may get bigger bang by (1) uninstalling unneeded apps and (2) delete unneeded Windows files (https://www.shareus.com/windows/which-files-can-be-safely-deleted-from-c-drive-windows-10-8-7.html).

 

Todays Windows machines are very efficient at handling files that are no longer needed so if they are there then it is likely they are there for a good reason.

The first time I completely crashed a computer (YEARS ago) was by deleting duplicate files. Unless you know 100% what you are doing then leave them alone. Run CCleaner Slim a few times a year (I use the portable version about once a year) and let Windows handle the maintenance. Today it is done in the background so for the average home user all you have to do is nothing.

Like @Zebra Last said, uninstall anything you do not use then run CCleaner. If you find you are still low on space then look into a new hard drive. A ~$50 upgrade can make a huge difference and add many years to your computers life. If there are personal files like video and/or audio or large PDFs that are taking up so much space then look into a USB storage device and store them there instead of on the main drive. Something like this. https://www.amazon.com/1tb-external-usb-drive/s?k=1tb+external+usb+drive

 

I definitely don't want to uninstall anything I need, or any program files. There are so many files tho and it seems to me they are files I have downloaded and probably duplicated while downloading. I am hoping to find a cautious program that is wise enough to get rid of some of this without crippling the computer as I don't know much.

 

I use Windows 7. I run the regular but free version of CCleaner daily. Mine doesn't remove duplicates, just shows them to me.

 

I don't know what you mean by the machine"handling them". I have a ton of duplicates; many look identical and have the same time and date; but quite a few are the same categories and listed as duplicates but don't look the same. I don't touch those. But if they have identical titles, name and date and time, I do remove. But there are too many and in this case I prefer an intelligent program to doing it myself. I have more confidence in that than in me. They are taking too much of my space and the machine is slower.

 

Re. CCleaner, there is the blue button near bottom left that says "Analyze". This is the button that will run the app and show you potentially deletable files - temps, etc. - but does not actually delete them. Is this the function you describe above? If so, then there is also the blue button near bottom right that says "Run Cleaner". Once you're ok with the potentially deletable files listed for you, click that button to actually delete. In my experience, CCleaner is fairly conservative and safe to use. Hope this helps.

 

You shouldn't need to run CCleaner every day on W7. Maybe every month?

W7 is around the time when Windows started becoming more efficient and taking out it's own trash in the background so daily maintenance is much less necessary for most users. If you are noticing that much sluggishness then I would look into doing a fresh install or even upgrading to W10 if you can for free. Windows 7 was released in 2009 and there are likely many stability issues with it.

There is also a big possibility it's time to look at a new hard drive or if possible start saving for a brand new Windows 11 computer that will hopefully last you as long as this one has. 10 years is a pretty good run without upgrading any hardware. The further time goes the more unreliable and likely unstable W7 will become. Depending on your needs you might also look at a Chromebook. Those can be more powerful than but cost less than a Windows computer but it does depend on your needs.

For the duplicates being created every day it kind of sounds like you have some buggy software that is creating unnecessary junk. Can you tell what software is creating them? Right click one and look at the Details tab to see if you can figure it out.