Duplicate texture finder?

[strider 0]

I used to use FSManager for this function, but, ever since I put my addon scenery on it's own HDD, FSM has gone mindless and couldn't find a duplicate texture if you shoved one up...well, you get the idea.I've tried many freeware "duplicate file finders", and they are mostly bunk. I need something that will allow me to search for duplicates of the various texture file types (BMP, PAT, R8, etc.) only, in the folders I select only. It would also have to be able to sort the results by folder (so that I could remove the duplicate in an addon scenery's texture folder while leaving the one which is located in my Static Objects Library folder, for example). I wish there was an FS9 utility that could replace all the things FSM used to do...but after a year of searching...I haven't found anything even remotely similar. I still use it...just not for duplicate texture finding. I'm not sure why scenery developers want to include a texture in their downloads which may already be a default in the main FS9 Texture folder or as part of the Static Objects Library folder??? If it already exists as a default texture in FS9...don't include it. If it's available as an EZscenery/RW12/etc. library...leave it out and tell us what library we need. Does no one realize how many crashes/CTD's and freezes are caused, or aided, by duplicate textures messing with FS9 and RAM? Sheesh! Any suggestions for a dupe program would be appreciated. Vic

[Egbert Drenth 258]

Hi,You could try these:http://www.scootersoftware.com/index.phporhttp://www.ultraedit.com/products/ultracompare.htmlI have the latter, not for FS but for developing matters.But it will function for FS just as well

[strider 0]

Hi,You could try these:http://www.scootersoftware.com/index.phporhttp://www.ultraedit.com/products/ultracompare.htmlI have the latter, not for FS but for developing matters.But it will function for FS just as well

Thank you, Egbert...I will give them a try and let you know how they work out.

[Stan57 0]

Or try "find_all_duplicate_v2.4.zip" by Gerard Durand in Avsim file library.

[neumanix 114]

Or try "find_all_duplicate_v2.4.zip" by Gerard Durand in Avsim file library.

Thanks for the tip, this seems to work great!I got rid of ~70MB of duplicates right away.Make sure to read the instructions before use so you understand what it's about to do.

[kiwiflyer45 123]

After reading this, I went and downloaded it too and by golly, it works perfectly. I don't really know what tangible difference it made, but I sure have got rid of a lot of duplicate textures and that's a load of potential problems I may not have to deal with in the future.

[Chuck_B 2]

Where are you guys running this? On which folders, specifically?

[kiwiflyer45 123]

Where are you guys running this? On which folders, specifically?

Hey Chuck. How's it going mate? :( I just downloaded it, it installed in it's own folder on my C drive, it immediately found my FS9 installation on the D disk and went to work. It removes all duplicate textures and puts them in a backup folder inside the addon texture folder and a log that tells you what textures were moved. So far at least it has been faultless - but even if it screws up, you just need to restore the backed up textures. Seems like a great little utility and it's freeware...

[neumanix 114]

I thought I'd explain how this great tool works.It scans your "addon scenery" folder and looks for identical textures, that means not just textures with the same name because those can still be different textures (different content).When it finds these duplicates it makes a new folder called "backup" inside the texture folders where they were found (effectively makes them invisible to the sim) and copies just one of these duplicatesinto the FS9\texture folder.This is because FS9 by default always searches through this folder when it needs to load a texture.There is an option to delete the duplicates but it's better to make backups and test that everything works, and only then delete all the backup folders it created, or better, move them to another drive so you can stillrestore eveything if problems somehow would occur.Hope this made sense :)

[kiwiflyer45 123]

I thought I'd explain how this great tool works.It scans your "addon scenery" folder and looks for identical textures, that means not just textures with the same name because those can still be different textures (different content).When it finds these duplicates it makes a new folder called "backup" inside the texture folders where they were found (effectively makes them invisible to the sim) and copies just one of these duplicatesinto the FS9\texture folder.This is because FS9 by default always searches through this folder when it needs to load a texture.There is an option to delete the duplicates but it's better to make backups and test that everything works, and only then delete all the backup folders it created, or better, move them to another drive so you can stillrestore eveything if problems somehow would occur.Hope this made sense :)

Good explanation. If I can use it, you know it's simple! :( I was really pleased with it and have had absolutely no problems so far

[Chuck_B 2]

Helloooooo, Ian, my friend! I'll PM you shortly to find out how your new system is working out. . .thanks for the help with this; I'll check it out!

[strider 0]

I thought I'd explain how this great tool works.It scans your "addon scenery" folder and looks for identical textures, that means not just textures with the same name because those can still be different textures (different content).When it finds these duplicates it makes a new folder called "backup" inside the texture folders where they were found (effectively makes them invisible to the sim) and copies just one of these duplicatesinto the FS9\texture folder.This is because FS9 by default always searches through this folder when it needs to load a texture.There is an option to delete the duplicates but it's better to make backups and test that everything works, and only then delete all the backup folders it created, or better, move them to another drive so you can stillrestore eveything if problems somehow would occur.Hope this made sense :)

Are you saying it only searches the default FS9 Addon Scenery folder? If so that probably won't work for me. All of my FS9 Addon Scenery reside on their own HDD. If it also doesn't include the default FS9 "Textures" folder, it's not going to find the hundreds of default textures that many developers include in their addon scenery. What I need is a proggy that will search in folders I designate...in this case the default FS9 Texture folder and my Addon Scenery folder on it's own drive. Anything else misses the duplicates in my setup. This is why the old reliable FSManager no longer works...I've moved my Addon Scenery off of my FS9 drive. Vic