Fix Duplicate Files in u32 Shadow USB Hard Drive

u32 Shadow USB is a portable hard disk that works as an external storage medium to store your important backups and files. It has an aluminium body that protects itself from heat. With USB 3.1 you can transfer your data at lightning speed with upto 140 mbps speed. The total storage capacity is 1-2 Terabytes which should be more than enough for home and personal usage.

The product comes with a three years limited warranty. You can store various file types including documents, images, music, video and archies. u32 Shadow USB External Hard Disk is USB bus powered and requires no external electricity supply. It is best suited for gamers, professionals and travelers who require maximum portability, performance and speed. It has no moving parts which increases the durability.

It is a plug and play drive that requires no driver installation. This means that, you do not need to connect to the Internet and search for a driver software. Just connect the device to any Windows, Mac or Linux-basedlaptop, and it will be ready to work within just a short span of a few seconds.

Thanks to the portability, it easily fits into your pocket and you can carry it with yourself wherever you go – whether at work or vacation. Moreover, you can connect an external hard disk to your Xbox and get instant access to your entire game collection.

Manually Finding Duplicate Files On u32 Shadow USB Hard Drive

If you wonder where do duplicate files come from, you’re going to be disappointed as there’s no definite answer. There are different circumstances when you gather identical copies of original files. For example: while browsing the Internet, you may come across the same file and download it to multiple occasions. Such files can be scattered across different locations, and make it difficult to identify them one by one. This is true especially when some files contain name which are altogether different from the original files.

Another catch involved is that two duplicate files may contain some variation in the data set. This is true for incremental backups of your documents which work on real-time, just like your Antivirus. These type of backups automatically update the changes and capture every single new version whenever you modify the original file. This leads to duplication and wastage of your storage space.

Thankfully, there’s a workaround. Here’s how:

For Mac Users

If you’re a Mac user, you can use the in-house Finder functionality to sort your files by their names and find identical copies. This, however, has certain limitations. There is no guarantee that two files sharing the same name contain identical data. You must open each file and compare the content your own before choosing to actually delete it.

  1. Open the Finder application.
  2. Click on the File manu, followed by New Smart Folder.
  3. Click the Plus sign on the top right corner of your screen.
  4. In the first and foremost drop-down box, select the Kind option.
  5. In the second drop-down box in the same row, choose your preferred file type parameter. For example: Documents, Images, PDF, Videos, Music, Presentations, Archies, etc.
  6. In the third drop-down box, you will want to select a file extension. For example: .jpg if you have selected the Image option.
  7. Click on the Plus sign again and select the Name option.
  8. Select Content in the second drop-down box and type your preferred file name.
  9. Mac will now display a list of all files sorted by their names.
  10. You can go through the list and delete the ones you don’t need.

For Microsoft Windows Users

One way to find duplicates in Windows is to sort all files by their names. You can accomplish this using the File Explorer in Windows 10/ 8.1 or Windows Explorer in earlier versions. The steps are given below:

If you’re using Windows 10/ 8.1/ 8, go to the View tab on the Ribbon interface. Click on the Sort by drop-down icon, and choose the Name parameter.

If you’re using Windows 7, open the Windows Explorer and right click on an empty area of your screen. Select Sort by, followed by Name.

Windows Vista users can click on the Arrange By drop-down box on the upper right corner, and select the Folder option. Thereafter, click on the View menu, and select Sort by | Name. If the menu bar is not visible, press the Alt key to unhide it.

Once your files appear in alphabetical order, you’ll want to find and compare files with the same name to search for duplicates.

Automatically Fix Duplicate Files On Mac & Windows

The best way to deal with the problem of duplicates is to use a reliable duplicate finder such as Sorcim’s Clone Files Checker. This software uses highly-powered and accurate algorithms to find thousands of duplicate files within just a few minutes.

Once the results are accumulated, you will be able to select individual files for removal, or choose one of the predefined criteria to automatically delete your files. There is also an option to move files to a separate folder instead of permanently deleting your files.

Another benefit of using Clone Files Checker is that you can customize the entire scan process according to your need and requirement. For instance if you wish to scan only a set of file types, your best bet will be the Custom Scan option. If your intention is to free up maximum storage space irrespective of file types, you should consider leaving the default Full Scan option selected. This is perhaps the best possible approach to fix duplicates in Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.

In addition to your hard drive, you can select other storage mediums such as u32 Shadow USB External Hard Disk, flash/ pen drives and SD memory cards. Windows users can scan popular cloud storage platforms such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, Dropbox without having to download a single file. This saves a lot of bandwidth and precious time. The application uses official APIs which guarantee privacy. You can preview the file contents in the right hand side panel of your screen.

    1. Visit the Clone Files Checker official website.
    2. Download the appropriate version depending on your operating system (Mac/ Windows).
    3. Install the program on your PC/ Mac.
    4. Click on the Add option on the left corner of your screen and select the destination folder.
    5. Similarly, you can add multiple folders to the Ignore List which is a collection of folders which will not be scanned for duplicates.
    6. Once the folders are selected, select one of the following options:
      • Full Scan: This is the recommended and default option that automatically searches all sorts of duplicate files without filtering. More the files, higher the possibility of finding duplicate content and freeing up larger amount of disk space.
      • Custom Scan: This shows up check boxes of individual file types that you can include or exclude from the scan. In addition to file types, you can also configure file sizes such as upper and lower file size limits.
    7. Once you are done setting up, click on the Start Search.
    8. The scan might take some time and will prompt you to select one of the following options:
  • Quick-Fix:
      • The first option Quick-Fix starts a wizard. You would be asked to choose which file versions you want to retain. This includes two options newer files and older files.
      • After you select the file version, the next thing you will be asked is your preferred action. Here, you can select Permanently Delete or Move to Folder.
      • Permanent delete will delete your files, and they cannot be recovered unless you use the in-house backup functionality. The backup feature reduces the size of your files to lower the disk space. You can view the backed up files in the History tab, get scan details and restore each file.
      • Another option Move to Folder moves the duplicate contents another location where you can view the files at your own preference.
  • Review & Fix:
    • The Review & Fix is an alternative for the wizard interface where you get a complete list of duplicates along with other details. You can check, uncheck files for removal.
    • You can export the scan results to a comma-separated file. Just like Quick-Fix, you can use a predefined selection criteria with the Select Duplicates button.
    • After selecting your files, click on the Select Action button and choose what you would like to do with the duplicates.