I need a free duplicate remover

I have about 2000 duplicates to remove from Windows Media  Player. Any ideas?

@siclmn wrote:
I have about 2000 duplicates to remove from Windows Media  Player. Any ideas?

Do the duplicates also exist on your hard drive? If not, then you should be able to clear the WMP library and have it re-scan your music folder(s) again. If the duplicates are on your hard drive, then you have to find them and move them and then have WMP re-scan.

The main reason I stopped using WMP is because it would no longer let me clear its library so I had all kinds of ■■■■ showing up in it. Frankly I’m much happier without it. MediaMonkey is much better for my audio needs.

How would I know if they are on the hard drive or in WMP? I have no idea how to figure that out. I though everything is on the hard drive.

@siclmn wrote:
How would I know if they are on the hard drive or in WMP? I have no idea how to figure that out. I though everything is on the hard drive.

I don’t mess much with WMP, but most sane music programs let you see the location of a file in the database.  Take one of your duplicates and see if:

  1. both point to the same file
  1. one of them points to a file that isn’t there any more (ie you moved or deleted the file but it’s still in the database)
  1. you have 2 copies of the same song in different formats (maybe wave and mp3)
  1. you have 2 copies of the identical file.

 

Many music programs have some facility to identify missing files so they can be cleared from the database, and some can find dupes.  

 

@siclmn wrote:
How would I know if they are on the hard drive or in WMP? I have no idea how to figure that out. I though everything is on the hard drive.

I think he’s asking if you have two or more of each actual music file on your hard drive, or if the tracks are only duplicated in the WMP library. The latter are really only shortcuts. Sometimes, if you move files around on the hard drive WMP will automatically add the moved tracks with their new locations as new library entries, but will not automatically remove their old entries. In the WMP library, right-click on duplicate song titles and choose Open File Location. If they point to the same file in the same location, or one points to a nonexistent location, use the resolution suggested: Remove all tracks from the WMP library (ONLY! See note) then have WMP rescan your drive, and this should get rid of the duplicates. If the two library entries point to different files in different folders or even different files in the same location, you’ll have to manually delete the duplicates.  You can add the File Path column to WMP’s library view and then you may be able to sort the library list so that you can delete duplicates in chunks, removing items from both the library and the hard drive at one time.

Also, it could be that you have copies of the same song in different formats. if you are converting files, from a high bit rate to a lower bit rate for example for use on your Fuze, you may be seeing both copies. Add the Bit Rate column to library view and see if this is what’s happening. In this case, you either have to live with it, or keep the converted files in a folder not being scanned by WMP.

Note: Make sure WMP doesn’t automatically delete files from the hard drive when deleting them from the library. Go to Tools > Options > Library Tab > Uncheck the option to delete files from the hard drive.

Message Edited by qualityaudio on 11-16-2009 07:44 AM

Message Edited by qualityaudio on 11-16-2009 07:46 AM

Message Edited by qualityaudio on 11-16-2009 07:46 AM

You guys are way over my head. I just want a program to do it for me. Yes most of them are two formats mp3 or m4a. Some are 3 to 5 versions. Some are same songs on different albums.  I am trying media monkey right now. 

Message Edited by siclmn on 11-16-2009 08:50 AM

Message Edited by siclmn on 11-16-2009 08:53 AM

The Windows Media Player listing is an index. It points to the files on your hard drive. Sometimes it makes a lot of pointers to the same file. So clearing the listing (making sure you don’t also clear the hard drive, as above) might help.

But you say you have actual duplicate copies of the same song. That’s more of a problem. If you Google-- “delete duplicates” free–you’ll find a lot of programs. Take your pick (or try download.com, where the programs are tested to be virus-free). 

However, bad news if you have the same song in .mp3 and .m4a. To your computer, or a software program, that’s not a duplicate file. Ditto if one file is called 01-That-Duplicate-Song.mp3 and another one is 1–That-Duplicate-Song.

Different file formats, diferent filenames. Not duplicates. You’re going to have to clean up that particular mess yourself.  The easiest way might be to display them in Windows Media Player or in Media Monkey, by song title perhaps, and start deleting.

I recommend Clone Remover. It’s the best duplicate finder for your computer or laptop. You can free download it and test.

http://www.moleskinsoft.com

Nice software, but not free any more (the trial version will remove 20 duplicates at a time). 

However, if you Google around, there was a free version: CloneRemover_free_setup.exe

Hello Good day, I use a software called Duplicate Files Deleter, it’s very easy to use and after it finds the duplicate files it lets you chose what you want to do with them (copy/delete/move). You can even check network files and you can check multiple paths in the same scan. This helps me alot. I hope you too.

You can use DuplicateFilesDeleter program, it will be great help

You can try, DuplicateFilesDeleter program

In this case I would recommend to try DuplicateFilesDeleter.

Why not try Duplicate Files Deleter. It will do a thorough search of your hard disk and find out the two or more duplicate files of the same file which may be stored at different locations. This will give you a comprehensive list of all those files and you can decide for yourself what you want to do with them.