[SOLVED] Making 2 very large folders exactly the same

[jaged]

Hey there, not sure if this is the right place to post this.

I want to make my Pictures folder on C: & my backup on F: the exact same(they aren't right now)

The F: drive pics is 133 GB with 22k+ files and 212 folders whereas C: drive pics is 141 GB with 21k+ files and 225 folders.

Is there a way to copy only the pics from C: to F: without having to copy the duplicates? I don't want any pics over-written on F: in case there are ones there I don't have on C:

I know cleaning up pics folders is a huge rabbit hole & I am honestly overwhelmed by it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Eximo]

The simple methods come down to file names. If you are sure they are all unique you can just try merging one folder onto another. If you know there are duplicates, then you are going to have to go through them.

There are deduplication programs out there if you want to trim them down.

There are certainly tricks you could use in powershell or vbscript to modify the files into uniques, by say reading file attributes out and adding them to the filename, then merging. Really depends on the content, if they share attributes, that would make it difficult.

 

[Pimpom]

If you're sure there are no different pictures with the same name, a simple copy-paste will do the job. When it encounters an existing file that has the same name as the one that's next in queue, it will warn you and you have the option to skip that one. Choose to do the same thing for all subsequent files.

 

[Lafong]

Your task will be complicated by these questions:

Do the duplicates on F and C have the same name?

Are there files that appear identical, but are of different size or quality?

Dupe detectors can help, but they are not highly accurate. You'll have to actually eyeball them side by side in the detector and then decide which to delete. You can be deceived and actually delete the superior version.

 

[Alabalcho]

Execute "robocopy C:\Photos F:\Photos /log:C:\SeeWhatWillBeCopied.log". This will simulate coying everything from C:\Photos to F:\Photos, while logging results to a file. Open this file, at the bottom there will be a summary.