Duplicate File Detective Release Notes

Duplicate File Detective - Release Notes

To download the latest version of Duplicate File Detective, please visit the product website.

Version 4.1.54 (Released December 16th, 2011)

Bug fix: Resolved a problem with duplicate file processing shell linkages not including the target file extension.
Bug fix: Resolved rare Winsock heap corruption anomaly that could occur in some environments.

Version 4.1.50 (Released November 7th, 2011)

Feature: Added the ability to change the duplicate search report font size (normal, large, and very large sizes available).
Feature: Added the ability to export/import protected file types to/from file.
Feature: The duplicate file search progress window now operates modally, preventing changes to the underlying project definition while a search is in progress.
Feature: Duplicate search result detail report now always shows sort triangle (even when column width is smaller than header text).
Feature: Added two new letters to details list attribute columns ("I" = "Not indexed" and "P" = "Sparse file").
Feature: Improved visibility of ribbon bar expand/collapse functionality by adding a right-aligned toggle button.
Feature: Added smooth scrolling support to duplicate file detail report view.
Feature: Detail report view selection colors are now maintained even when the control window does not have active focus.
Feature: Detail report view now shows a dotted border around the current focused row to differentiate it from other selected rows.
Feature: F1 key now used by main window as shortcut to access help file.
Feature: When users elect to remove files during duplicate zipping, the actual file removal is now deferred until after the zip file is finalized / closed.
Feature: When Duplicate File Detective encounters a file system security identifier that is not mapped to an account name, it will now convert the SID to a string (e.g. it will present something like "S-1-5-21-9259032911-4949815421-2563717148-1001 " rather than displaying "unknown"). Note that "unknown" will still be presented if the security descriptor itself is inacessible.
Bug fix: Resolved rare crash that could occur if system settings (such as theme, etc.) were changed during an auto-prune operation.
Bug fix: The link to review logged events in the duplicate search pop-up notification window was broken.
Bug fix: Resolved minor file types detail toolbar icon transparency flaw.
Bug fix: File properties docking panel tooltips are now themed correctly.
Bug fix: Now catching unhandled exception that could occur while flushing duplicate search log file.
Bug fix: Now catching unhandled exception that could occur when finalizing zip archives.
Bug fix: Duplicate file processing progress dialog would show file names after they were processed, rather than before / during (cosmetic bug).

Version 4.0.45 (Released June 16th, 2011)

Feature: Project path management controls are now disabled when a duplicate search is in progress.
Feature: Added new protection feature that checks disk space availability during duplicate file move / zip operations. If the target volume has less than 100 MB of space free, a warning will be issued. This behavior is enabled by default, and can be changed in Preferences | Protection.
Bug fix: Resolved GDI resource leak (relating to media preview and file property panes) that could eventually lead to a crash.
Bug fix: Resolved potential incompatibility with Windows 7 Service Pack 1, experienced by a small subset of users.
Bug fix: Resolved rare main window report column visibility crash.
Bug fix: Added exception handler for additional file exceptions occurring during duplicate processing.

Version 4.0.43 (Released May 19th, 2011)

Bug fix: Fix for potential divide by zero exception introduced in v4.0.42.

Version 4.0.42 (Released May 18th, 2011)

Feature: Improved formatting of duplicate file report group indices.
Feature: File type detail report duplicate percentage column drawing improvements.
Bug fix: Resolved rare floating point operation failure during file type statistics computation.
Bug fix: Resolved rare search report scrollbar drawing artifact that could occur in certain graphics adapter environments.
Bug fix: Additional exception handling for obscure music file tag read fault.
Change: When a duplicate file candidate is skipped because it resolves to the same physical path as another candidate, an event log warning is no longer generated. Instead, a search log entry is now created (skipped file logging must be enabled in perferences window) which details the files in question.

Version 4.0.40 (Released May 13th, 2011)

Feature: Added support for compression of temp files created by Duplicate File Detective during search operations. Option is enabled by default, but can be turned off in the advanced tab of preferences window. Requires that user/system temp folder location resolves to NTFS file system.
Feature: Added ability to compare parent folders (up to a specified depth) when searching for duplicate files.
Feature: Added drop arrow to search/excluded panel toolbars to allow for adding of mapped network drive or drop-and-drop of paths from Windows Explorer.
Feature: Improved detection of cases were two files refer to the same physical file system location, and thus should not be compared. Some tests are NTFS file system specific.
Feature: Improved efficiency and scalability of event log viewer. It can now display a very large number of events with minimal impact on memory consumption.
Feature: Event log viewer now remembers column sizing changes, and no longer flickers when window is resized.
Feature: Various performance (XML import, etc.) and theme improvements.
Bug fix: Fixed rare exception that could occur when attemping to hash zip files with invalid / corrupt field data.
Bug fix: Ribbon bar customizations were not being retained between sessions.
Bug fix: Fixed two obscure cases where file open return checks were not being performed correctly.
Bug fix: Changing the log file directory would cause logging to fail until the application was restarted.
Change: Removed "delete all" button from search/excluded path panel toolbars. This function can still be accessed via context menu (right-click within panel).
Change: Retired the "do not compare hard linked files" comparison option. This behavior is now always in effect.

Version 4.0.25 (Released April 19th, 2011)

Bug fix: Fixed rare crash in ribbon bar UI update handler routine.
Bug fix: Fixed exception relating to zip file hashing.

Version 4.0.24 (Released April 18th, 2011)

Feature: Duplicate File Detective is now available in native x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) builds. The 64-bit build increases the scalability of the product considerably.
Feature: Added new file hash caching feature. The goal of hash caching is to improve the performance of subsequent duplicate searches involving the same paths.
Feature: Added a special file hashing option for ZIP files, allowing their contents to be enumerated and hashed (rather than the zip file itself).
Feature: Added support for extracting and comparing music file tags. Supported audio file formats include MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MPC, Speex, WavPack TrueAudio, WAV, AIFF, MP4 and ASF.
Feature: Added support display of music file tag data in primary duplicate file results report. New columns include artist, title, album, track, year, genre, duration, and bitrate.
Feature: Extended duplicate results report filtering to include new music tag attributes (see above) as well as duplicate group count and size.
Feature: The image preview docking window has been renamed to "media preview" and now supports numerous audio and video formats.
Feature: Extended SmartMark system to support marking duplicates by shortest duration or smallest bitrate (music tags).
Feature: The file properties window has been extended to show audio tag data for supported audio file formats (see above).
Feature: Added the ability to strip non-alphanumeric characters from filenames during comparisons.
Feature: Expanded the built-in music file type preset to include taggable formats.
Feature: File group editor is now easier to understand and use, with improved validation, etc.
Feature: A new step has been added to the project wizard that allows users to select which columns will appear in the duplicate results report
Feature: The project wizard now offers more assistance in path, file type, and report column selection screens based upon the project type specified in the first step.
Feature: Duplicate search result report column visibility is now stored at the project level, rather than globally.
Feature: Export and import processes have been extended to include music tag data.
Feature: When exporting duplicate report results, default export column selections are synced with the current visible columns in the results report view.
Feature: Exporting duplicate search result data in XML format now exports all available duplicate file data, making result imports much more intuitive.
Feature: Added ability to print duplicate search summary report.
Feature: In the path selection step of the new project wizard, the folder path list offers improved folder browsing and validation.
Feature: Memory and performance optimizations during file hashing (checksum generation) operations, particularly when combined with other match options (such as file name and/or extension matching).
Feature: Added adaptive threading technology, designed to maximize performance during file hash / checksum generation.
Feature: Changing hash thread pool size settings no long requires an application restart to take effect.
Feature: When running the 64-bit product build, project default folder exclusions now take their x86 path counterparts into account.
Feature: Added switch to allow for (non-Internet) temp file folder to be excluded by default in new projects.
Feature: Added duplicate report column header context menu option for restoring columns to their default widths.
Feature: The ability to compare file extensions now operates independently of file name comparison (see comparison options window).
Feature: Selecting the music tag comparison option in the Match Settings dialog will sync the visible duplicate report columns accordingly.
Feature: Added support for specifying HTTP proxy login and password during update check operations.
Feature: Handling of folder reparse points (junctions, symbolic links, and mount points) now provides recursion avoidance.
Feature: The Duplicate File Manager can now remove empty directories which are the result of duplicate file delete/move operations.
Feature: General application theme improvements in all areas.
Feature: File type graph views have been redesigned for superior performance and presentation.
Bug fix: Duplicate result records associated with protected search paths were still eligible for processing.
Bug fix: In very specific circumstances, the duplicate search elements in the progress window could show incorrect values.
Bug fix: It is no longer possible to change projects through the "most recently used" file listing while a duplicate search is in progress.
Bug fix: Resolved duplicate search result report selection not being restored upon sort column change in specific circumstances.
Bug fix: Fixed existing duplicate search file type and summary data not being cleared when opening a project.
Bug fix: Resolved an issue where certain error log entries that occurred while opening a locked file would show "unknown error" (rather than the actual failure reason).
Bug fix: Project search / exclude path listings were constrained to roughly a third of their maximum supported allowance.

Version 3.6.3 (Released January 7th, 2011)

Feature: Added ability to disable duplicate group sorting within primary detail report.
Feature: Significant performance gains in all wilcard comparison mechanisms (e.g. scan-time filtering, resulting filtering, etc.).
Feature: Improved usability and appearance of product within high DPI display modes.
Feature: The duplicate file report view now draws a line between duplicate groups to better separate them.
Feature: Duplicate and scanned file distribution graphs have been re-worked to improve layout and spatial efficiency.
Feature: Re-organized certain ribbon bar functions to improve workflow.
Feature: Added the ability to mark *only* the selected files (and unmark all others) in the same group. Uses Ctrl+G shortcut key.
Feature: Users can now drag and drop files from Windows directly onto the Hash Calculator tool window to add them to the list of files to hash.
Bug fix: Low-priority I/O mode on Vista or later is now engaged properly.
Bug fix: Resolved SmartMark defect that caused marking of files in project paths to work too greedily in certain instances.
Change: Switched to a three-part application version number.

Version 3.5.2.50 (Released August 24th, 2010)

Feature: Improved the column names assocated with the file type detail view to make them more intuitive.
Feature: Improved internal crash reporting mechanisms have been added.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with the mark newest / oldest feature working in reverse.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with "mark / unmark in project path" feature not working properly for duplicate files residing in root drive paths.
Bug fix: Resolved an obscure bug where entry of overlapping duplicate search paths resulted in erroneous report results.
Bug fix: Resolved issue with search path protection not always covering exact path matches.
Bug fix: Resolved minor cosmetic issue with color depth in search path toolbar images.
Bug fix: Minor corrections to application themes.

Version 3.5.0.49 (Released February 19th, 2010)

Bug fix: Resolved a problem that caused duplicate searches to abort prematurely in the comparison phase. This issue only occurred in the v3.5.0.48 release.

Version 3.5.0.48 (Released February 18th, 2010)

Feature: Introduced a new "Folder View" docking panel that provides a hierarchical representation of the folders involved in the current duplicate search results. Users can control the visibility of related duplicate search result records using the checkboxes next to each folder.
Feature: Introduced the ability to "protect" duplicate search paths, accessible through the lock toolbar button in the search paths docking panel. When a search path is protected, all its descendants in the search results report will be unavailable for marking (and therefore cannot be processed by Duplicate File Detective). Such entries will show a small lock icon in place of their marking check box.
Feature: A new File Extension Researcher tool has been integrated into Duplicate File Detective. It is accessible from the toolbar of the File Types detail panel, or from the detail report's right-click (context) menu.
Feature: Duplicate File Detective now provides an option for excluding protected file types from the duplicate file search process. This option is enabled by default, and should improve the performance and security of many common duplicate search scenarios.
Feature: Added the ability to create symbolic links (in addition to existing shell shortcut link support) when moving or deleting duplicates. This feature is available on Windows Vista and later only (Windows XP and earlier do not support symbolic links) and requires that DFD be run "elevated" and with administrative privileges.
Feature: Added the ability to create hard links when moving or deleting duplicates. Note that hard links cannot cross volumes (e.g. you cannot link a file on one hard drive to a file on another drive).
Feature: The AutoPrune feature has been enhanced so that it prunes files which are recognized as symbolic or hard links. This helps to make use of the new symbolic / hard linking features (described above) more seamless, as linked files will be removed from duplicate results reports during pruning.
Feature: Added "group count" and "group size" columns to the duplicate search results detail listing. Note that both columns are hidden by default - use the column chooser (or right-click on the detail view header) to expose them.
Feature: Right-clicking a project search / exclude path now selects that item prior to showing the context menu. Right-clicking outside of all list items will now also remove any existing selection.
Feature: Added an option (enabled by default) to the file match settings dialog that causes hard-linked files to not be considered duplicates. File linkage tests are performed prior to content analysis, eliminating the need for performance-intensive hashing when hard links exist.
Feature: Group count and size metrics can now be exported in all formats (CSV, HTML, XML).
Feature: Results filtering now offers the ability to filter by group index.
Feature: Autoprune dialog now indicates the number of duplicate groups pruned thus far (as well as the total number being pruned).
Feature: Performance of file type statistics generation has been significantly enhanced.
Feature: Improved log entry descriptions for "file compared" search log events (non-matches now identify which test failed).
Feature: The duplicate search summary window now provides direct links to search log files for "file found", "folder scanned", "file skipped", and "folder skipped" log event types.
Feature: Added a duplicate file search report context menu that allows for reversing (toggling) of markings for currently selected duplicate files. This feature can also be accessed by pressing the spacebar.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem in version number comparisons that could incorrectly alert users about a new product release when using automatic update checking.
Bug fix: Skipped reparse point files were being incorrectly reported as skipped folders in search logging and report summary.
Bug fix: User's preferred column auto-sizing mode could be disrupted by use of the column chooser tool.
Bug fix: The duplicate search complete notification pop-up window would not be responsive to user interaction if the search summary dialog was on-screen at the same time.
Bug fix: Resolved a potential buffer overrun condition within the Duplicate File Manager window that could be triggered by the display of very deeply nested folder paths.
Bug fix: Creation of CSV files (during search log file generation, or when exporting file type detail reports) now employ UTF-8 encoding, rather than Unicode. This provides better compatibility with MS Excel.

Version 3.0.1.69 (Released December 16th, 2009)

Feature: Dynamic cluster size resolver improves accuracy of allocated file size (aka "size on disk") computations.
Feature: The ability to SmartMark oldest / newest duplicate files (in each group) has been extended to allow users to choose what file date/time stamp (modified, created, or last accessed) is used for the comparison.
Bug fix: Replaced main application icon with correct, higher resolution version.
Bug fix: Fixed a problem in which specific SmartMark functions would issue an incorrect (unecessary) warning.
Bug fix: Results filtering would not be applied when ribbon bar was minimized. This has been fixed.
Bug fix: User's preferred column auto-sizing mode could be disrupted by the addition / removal of duplicate search report columns.
Bug fix: Duplicate file search report tooltips could become corrupted if the duplicate file path contained specific character sequences.
Bug fix: Configuration of update checking through an HTTP proxy was not working correctly.
Other: Installer improvements, minor adjustments to product license dialog, etc.

Version 3.0.0.57 (Released November 17th, 2009)

Feature: Duplicate File Detective is now Unicode enabled. Note that report export operations now generate Unicode files (e.g. which include byte order markers).
Feature: Added the ability to create shell shortcuts when moving or deleting duplicate files using the Duplicate File Manager dialog
Feature: Logging support has been added to Duplicate File Detective, providing users with details on how file system objects are processed during duplicate search runs. Use the application preferences window to configure logging.
Feature: A new "welcome wizard" tutorial has been added to Duplicate File Detective.
Feature: Application toolbars and menus have been replaced with a new "ribbon" command interface.
Feature: Application themes have been re-designed and heavily augmented. Available themes now include "blue", "black", "silver", "aqua", "scenic", and "white". These can be set via the "theme" drop-down menu located to the right of the ribbon.
Feature: The display of duplicate groups within the results report has been re-engineered. Duplicate File Detective no longer displays duplicate groups as a series of hierchical nodes. This new "flattened" view delineates duplicate groups with alternating background colors, greatly improving use of vertical space.
Feature: The scalability and efficiency of Duplicate File Detective have been improved dramatically. Extremely large duplicate file reports can now be produced without exhausting available system memory.
Feature: Added the ability to create zip archives that contain Unicode file names. This feature can be enabled on the advanced tab of the preferences window, and is disabled by default. Be sure that the zip archive utility you use supports Unicode before enabling this option.
Feature: The design of the duplicate results summary window has been re-engineered to be cleaner and more informative.
Feature: Error handling and reporting during duplicate result processing has been improved considerably.
Feature: A new "auto prune" feature is now available from the Results menu. It allows users to manually trigger a report pruning process that removes file report items no longer present within the file system. This allows for automatic updating of report results without needing to re-execute a complete search.
Feature: The pruning process that occurs after duplicate file processing (or through the "auto prune" option mentioned above) now has a progress indicator and is cancellable.
Feature: The report data import process now offers an option for launching the auto-pruning process after an import completes successfully.
Feature: When exporting duplicate search results, current file markings are now available as an optional export column. When exporting in XML format with this option enabled, a subsequent import of this XML will restore the markings.
Feature: Exporting report data to HTML or CSV will now retain current report view characteristics such as current sorting and filtering. Note that XML export format remains unchanged - it exports all duplicate search data in a manner that supports re-importing at a later date (via File | Import).
Feature: Search result filtering has been re-designed to be report column specific, with new "wild card" character support. These changes improve flexibility and performance dramatically.
Feature: A number of search result filtering shortcuts have been added to the report context menu, making it easier to isolate duplicates by name, folder, owner, etc.
Feature: When processing (moving, deleting, zipping) duplicate files, Duplicate File Detective checks (by default) to see if any duplicate file groups have all of their entries marked and allows the user to cancel processing operations and review markings before proceeding. Also, such a cancellation will now cause the first duplicate file group with all entries marked to scroll into view (with the first duplicate of the group selected).
Feature: The file hash calculator tool has been improved to allow for the generation of multiple hash type values for multiple file paths in a single pass. It is also now operates within a separate worker thread so that the UI doesn't become unresponsive when hashing larger files.
Feature: The duplicate report context menu now exposes a "compute file hash" option that launches the file hash calculator tool. Multiple path selections are supported.
Feature: When filtering duplicate search results, users can now elect to show the siblings of matching items. In other words, if any member of a duplicate group passes the filter, then the entire duplicate group that contains it will be shown (rather than just the duplicate that passed). This option is available as a switch within the general tab of the preferences window.
Feature: Duplicate search report print previewing has been enhanced signficantly. It now includes more intuitive zoom controls as well as multi-page preview and more.
Feature: Error handling during report export operations has been improved considerably.
Feature: New project default exclusion paths have been improved via the addition of a switch for the "common program files" folder. Default exclusions now also include both x64 and x86 paths when running on 64-bit Windows.
Feature: Added the ability to retain existing folder structures when moving duplicate files.
Feature: The search summary dialog has been extended to include a new "search log" view. This new mechanism provides insights into which folders were scanned during duplicate searching, as well as which files and folders were skipped (and why).
Feature: Duplicate search report tooltips have been enhanced signficantly, and an option has been added (see preferences window) allowing them to be disabled.
Feature: The default docking panel configuration has been altered to be more intuitive.
Feature: A new status bar pane shows the number of duplicate files that are currently marked, along with the amount of space they consume.
Feature: A new file "single threaded" file content hashing option was added to the advanced tab of the application preferences window. It is also now the default threading mode, as it yields the best performance for local storage devices. Users scanning network resources should consider use of multiple threads.
Feature: All status bar panes now intelligently resize themselves to their current textual contents, providing more efficient use of space and eliminating unwanted trimming.
Feature: The progress bar that appears during duplicate comparison operations has been re-designed and split into two sections, the first showing the number of bytes scanned and the second showing the number of files scanned.
Feature: Application keyboard shortcuts have been dramatically improved. The existing v2.x shortcuts still work, but are now also supplemented by entirely new ribbon bar shortcuts (press the Alt key to display).
Feature: The coloring of duplicate file report rows by duplicate file attributes can now be disabled completely, with a single switch. This can improve duplicate file report viewing performance in some scenarios (e.g. when search for duplicates over a slower network connection).
Feature: Duplicate search result XML file exports now store a reference to the current project file (if the project had been previously saved). This value is then queried during XML import operations, and the user is prompted to load the associated project file (if it is present, and if it is different from the currently loaded project).
Feature: Smart marking within the duplicate search result context menu now allows users to mark or un-mark all items within a specific project path. This provides users with a simple means of ensuring that no files within a particular project path are processed (or vice versa).
Feature: Duplicate file records can now be removed from the duplicate search report (without deleting the associated file). To remove a range of entries with the same properties (e.g. same hash, folder, etc.), use filtering to narrow down the visible entries and then remove them.
Feature: Added automatic update checking, which occurs in a background thread when Duplicate File Detective starts up. Can be disabled through preferences window.
Feature: On Windows 7, the Duplicate File Detective task bar button now shows a marquee style progress indicator whenever a duplicate search is in progress.
Feature: Improved support for Windows Restart Manager.
Feature: Marked duplicate file report items can now be displayed in a lighter color than those that are un-marked. Users can also elect to display the filename of marked files using a strike-through font.
Feature: When adding a search or exclude path (through the respective docking panel), users of Windows Vista and later can now choose multiple folders.
Feature: Added support for extremely long paths to the duplicate file search and management features. Note that the "delete files to recycle bin" option of the Duplicate File Manager is still limited to working with paths that are 255 characters or less due to limitations in the Windows shell.
Feature: The Duplicate File Manager now continues processing files when errors occur, presenting a summary of errors (if any) when the process completes. There is also a new option that causes file processing to halt upon the first occurrence of an error (similar to how previous versions behaved).
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with filename-only duplicate matching when "ignore extensions" was also enabled.
Bug fix: The contents of the duplicate results summary window are now reset immediately when a new project is created. Previously, they weren't cleared until a new duplicate scan was run.
Bug fix: Fixed a couple of relatively obscure bugs in the code that handles document modification flags.
Bug fix: File | Import menu option is now disabled when a duplicate file search is in progress.
Bug fix: Selecting the default color from the color selection control on the file attributes option panel wasn't working as expected.
Bug fix: When matching duplicates via filename and ignoring extensions, blank filenames are no longer considered a match.
Bug fix: ProjectPath node of XML export file was not properly enclosed in CDATA block.
Bug fix: User interface now responds better to changes to Windows system themes, etc.

Version 2.2.0.0 (Released March 25th, 2008)

Feature: Added SHA256 and SHA512 hash algorithm support to Duplicate File Detective (accessible via advanced project settings window).
Feature: Added the ability to alter the encoding type used to represent file hash strings. By default, hexadecimal encoding is used, but this can now be switched to Base64. Hex has the advantage of using only uppercase characters and numbers (and thus being slightly easier to read), whereas Base64 encoded hash strings are significantly more compact but use a broader character set that includes lowercase letters.
Feature: Duplicate file marking actions taken through the duplicate report context menu (and other means) will no longer change row selection.
Feature: New keyboard shortcuts, including Ctrl+M for marking selected files and Ctrl+U for unmarking selected files.
Feature: Improved tooltips when using the Office 2007 theme (see View menu).
Feature: Created an "Exclude parent folder" shortcut within the duplicate file report context menu.
Feature: The file hash calculator tool has been improved in several ways. It now provides access to SHA256 and SHA512 hashing algorithms and a switch for selecting hash encoding type (Hex or Base64). The window is also now resizable and retains configuration state between uses.
Feature: Added a "reverse current markings" function to the smart marking menu. This simply inverts whatever duplicate file markings currently exist. Markings can also be reversed for a specific group (via right-click context menu).
Feature: Duplicate File Detective will now automatically mark all members of a duplicate file group, with the exception of the first. If you prefer the previous behavior (where no files were marked by default), see the new setting in the general tab of the preferences window.
Feature: The image preview window will now show a shell icon for duplicate files that are not actually images.
Feature: Expanded SmartMark capabilities with a "mark all but last file in each duplicate group" function, also available from the duplicate report context menu.
Feature: The speed at which the Duplicate Result Manager window appears has been dramatically improved, especially when dealing with a large number of duplicate file markings.
Feature: Added a new file size comparison mechanism to the search filtering docking window that allows for isolation of files "between" two specified sizes.
Feature: Further extended the duplicate file context menu (e.g. the right-click menu) to allow the user to mark all duplicates of a file in the same folder - or all other folders. This is different from the existing "mark all files in same folder' option, which works across all duplicate groups.
Feature: Added experimental support for low-priority disk I/O on Windows Vista / Server 2008 and later. This switch, available from the Advanced tab of the Global Settings window, causes file system enumeration and file hashing threads to operate in a special, low-priority mode that makes them less likely to interfere with other functions the host computer may be performing.
Feature: The Duplicate Result Manager window file list is now fully sortable by any column.
Feature: Added a simple "Search with Duplicate File Detective" Explorer shell context menu capability.
Bug fix: Widened cumulative file size display field within Duplicate File Manager window.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem where "an unnamed file was not found" would be displayed when attempting to access a recent project file (via the File menu) that no longer existed. The error message is now clearer and more descriptive.
Bug fix: Resolved a bug in the file name filtering system that would cause wildcard expressions containing spaces to function incorrectly.
Bug fix: Resolved a rare "R6002 - Floating point support not loaded" error that could occur in some environments.
Other performance optimizations, help file updates, bug fixes and improvements.

Version 2.1.1.0 (Released November 24th, 2007)

Feature: Added a total file space metric to the Duplicate Result Manager window. Provides a better sense of how much space will be freed based upon the pending action.
Feature: Duplicate file manager window can now be maximized.
Feature: When files are removed from the Duplicate Result Manager window, the file list scroll position is no longer changed. This makes it easier to track the position of such changes relative to other files being processed.
Feature: Added "mark all but first" duplicate file marking capabilities to the duplicate report context (right-click) menu, so that this feature can operate at the duplicate group level (in addition to existing SmartMark implementation, which operates on all duplicate groups).
Feature: When using Duplicate Result Manager to zip files with the "delete originals" option engaged, the deletions will now honor the "delete to Windows recycle" bin option.
Feature: Numerous improvements to application performance and error handling, particularly within Duplicate Results Manager.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with duplicate file project paths not being cleared between loading of projects (v2.1.0.1 regression).

Version 2.1.0.1 (Released November 20th, 2007)

Bug fix: Resolved a defect in which DFD could crash when attempting to generate a preview for a duplicate file that had been deleted by an external program.
Bug fix: Fixed a bug in which the duplicate result manager window could have its protection flags out of sequence.
Bug fix: Added code to guard against runtime error display (and subsequent abort) when DFD encounters invalid date/time stamps on files.
Other very minor tweaks.

Version 2.1.0.0 (Released November 15th, 2007)

Feature: Added support for regular expression syntax to the filename masking system utilized throughout Duplicate File Detective (e.g. scan-time search filtering, smart filename marking, etc.).
Feature: Significant enhancements to duplicate file report navigation performance, particularly when scanning network file paths. Image preview loading is now threaded, and operates on a slight delay to allow for smoother file selection transitions within the duplicate result report.
Feature: Added a new switch to the performance section of the advanced setting dialog that allows users to disable retrieval of file ownership data during the duplicate file search process. Use of this switch can enhance duplicate search performance, especially when scanning network paths.
Feature: Whenever Duplicate File Detective saves a project to file, it creates a backup copy of the original (if one exists). The location of this .bak file has been moved to the user's local Application Data system folder (previously it was saved to the same path as the project file).
Feature: Added a switch to the general tab of global preferences that allows for the auto-completion feature of drop-down combo boxes within DFD to be disabled.
Feature: Added a switch to the View | Toolbars submenu that allows you to "lock all toolbars" (prevent them from being moved / re-docked to other parts of the application frame).
Feature: Added a warning / confirmation window that appears when duplicate files are processed and one or more groups are found to have all of their entries marked. The display of this window can be managed via the Protection tab within the Global Preferences window.
Bug fix: Resolved a memory leak that would occur during XML data import processes.
Bug fix: Resolved an issue with adding invalid paths via the "search folders" panel where the folder browser dialog would be closed and the last browse path would be added. Now the folder browser path will stay on-screen when an invalid path is entered, allowing the user to correct the situation.
Bug fix: In some specific cases, clicking the cancel button during a duplicate file comparison process would not immediately cancel pending search operations (e.g. it could take several seconds). Now, cancellation occurs much more quickly (nearly instantly).
Bug fix: Status bar statistics were not being updated after the Duplicate File Results Manager tool was utilized. Now when duplicates are moved, deleted, or zipped, the status bar will be updated to reflect the change in duplicate file count and disk space consumed.
Bug fix: File type classification panels are now updated after the Duplicate File Results Manager tool is utilized.
Bug fix: The auto-completion feature of the drop-down box used to input file name masks (in various places within the application) was not operating in a case-sensitive manner.
Bug fix: Resolved a crash that could occur on Win9x operating systems when a project is run a second time.
Bug fix: File size and count values within the File Types detail report were not using a thousands separator character (comma).
Significant performance enhancements in many areas of the application.
Numerous minor improvements in usability and appearance.

Version 2.0.0.0 (Released October 16th, 2007)

Feature: Added an image preview docking window. Current supported image file formats are: BMP, EMF, GIF, ICO, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF.
Feature: Numerous changes (to application file storage, etc.) to make Duplicate File Detective more Windows Vista friendly.
Feature: The "mark all files in group" context menu option available at the duplicate group level now descends into any sub-groupings that may have been established through the use of the report grouping bar.
Feature: It is now possible to shift+click and ctrl+click multiple duplicate report record selections and use the "mark selected file(s)" context menu function to mark them.
Feature: Added the ability to ignore file extensions when performing file name based duplicate matching. When this feature is enabled, the resulting duplicate file report will group entries by file name (minus the extension).
Feature: Added an option to automatically show the duplicate file summary report upon completion of scanning operations. This checkbox is available within the summary report window itself, and is turned off by default.
Feature: Added the ability to perform byte-for-byte matching during file comparison operations. This feature is useful when even the smallest potential for false positive matches cannot be tolerated. Although strong hashing algorithms such as MD5 and SHA1 are *extremely* accurate, the only way to be 100% certain that two files match is byte-for-byte binary comparison. Note that use of this feature can slow the file comparison process significantly (especially when comparing large files).
Feature: Paths in the "search paths" and "exclusions" docking panels can now be double-clicked for editing. A "browse for folder" dialog will appear with the path being edited visible. If a new path is chosen, it will replaced the one that was double-clicked.
Feature: Numerous improvements to scan-time error handling throughout the application. For example, if a project contains an invalid starting path, it now notifies the user of such once scanning operations are complete. File access exceptions that occur during file content comparison operations are also better exposed now.
Feature: Added "last accessed" and "created" date / time columns to duplicate file report results. Both new columns can be exported to any of the supported export formats (and can also be re-imported from an XML export). Also note that both columns are hidden by default (right click on the report header and use the field chooser to make them visible).
Feature: Created a new "Office 2007" visual theme for the application that closely resembles Microsoft Office 2007 (minus the ribbon bar). Users can freely switch between this and the older Windows system-based theme used by DFD v1.x (see view menu).
Feature: Added an option to the "appearance" section the preference window that allows users to control whether date-based report columns (such as "created", "modified", etc.) include a time value. By default, they will show date only.
Feature: Added "attribs" column to duplicate file report results. The column expresses common file attributes as a series of alpha flags. For example, "HSA" is representative of the file attributes "hidden", "system", and "archive". This new column is hidden by default (use the report field chooser to make it visible) and can be included in all export operations.
Feature: Made extensive improvements to the DFD v1.x "smart marking" system (which is now referred to as "SmartMark"). New capabilities include marking of duplicates file file size (largest or smallest in each group), filename length (longest or shortest file name in each group), and filename pattern. Filename pattern marking supports compound wildcard masks with exclusions, and can also ensure that at least one duplicate file in each group is left unmarked.
Feature: A context (e.g. right-click) popup menu has been added to the "search paths" and "exclusions" path management panels. The context menu provides access to existing functions and adds new ones (including the ability to check or uncheck all paths at once).
Feature: Enhanced the duplicate file scan progress dialog to include a "files compared" indicator. The progress bar control logic has also been revised (and is now more accurate) and is supplemented by progress percentage text.
Feature: The duplicate scan summary data that is included with XML data exports is now more complete (it now includes files scanned / skipped, folders scanned / skipped, report start and end times, etc.). Scan summary data is also now brought back into the application during an XML data import, making the "Summary" window more useful in these situations.
Feature: Made numerous performance enhancements, especially with regard to file content comparisons (which can now operate concurrently, making better use of modern hardware capabilities).
Feature: Added a new "advanced" tab to the global settings window. Currently, it provides access to file hashing thread pool settings, and will be further extended in future releases.
Feature: The default style sheet (which applies to HTML exports) has been completely revised, and now provides a simpler, more professional appearance. As before, the style sheet can be customized to the needs of the user.
Feature: Search and exclusion path management intelligence has been expanded considerably. DFD will now attempt to resolve a broader range of conflicts when new paths are added (such as when a parent directory already exists, or the new path is a parent to an existing path) through warnings, confirmations, and additional actions.
Feature: The duplicate result manager dialog window can now be resized, and will retain it's size and position between uses.
Feature: Added new options to the duplicate report context (right-click) menu that allow all files in the same folder as the selected item to be marked (or un-marked).
Feature: Added a new option to the general tab of the settings window allowing you to disable "save current project" prompts. Currently, if any unsaved changes exist to the project, you will be prompted to save them under certain circumstances. Use this new switch to disable these entirely (project is never saved unless you save it explicitly).
Feature: The file properties docking window can now be switched between "categorized" (the default) and "alphabetized" property sorting orders. The alphabetical view is slightly more compact, for those who might find the extra space beneficial.
Feature: The duplicate file scanning event (error) log window is now resizable and remembers its position between uses. It also provides intelligent column resizing within the event log list control that it contains.
Feature: It is now possible to drag directory paths from Windows Explorer and drop them onto the "Search Paths" and / or "Exclusions" docking panels.
Feature: Added an option to the Export window that allows style settings to be merged directly into HTML export files (rather than having the CSS file copied to the export target path and linked into the HTML). This helps to create a more portable HTML export document, and is engaged by default.
Feature: Added an option to the general tab of the global settings which causes DFD to display a desktop notification whenever a duplicate scan process completes. You can also elect to show such notifications only when duplicate scan errors occur.
Feature: Duplicate file result manager window path list is now sorted alphabetically.
Feature: New MSI application installer package.
Bug fix: File name filter edit / combo history no longer stores duplicate entries.
Bug fix: Auto group results function (see general tab of preferences window) would fail if the correlative "preferred column" was hidden by the user (through the field chooser window or some other means). This has been resolved.
Bug fix: Closing the main application window and then choosing "cancel" when prompted to save any changes to the active project would cause problems (and prematurely cancel any duplicate scans in progress). This has been resolved.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with file size filtering not always performing comparisons correctly.
Bug fix: Shell icons displayed within the duplicate file report detail view could be incorrect in specific, rare situations (usually on the Win9x family of operating systems). This has been resolved.
Numerous other minor improvements and bug fixes.

Special thanks: I would like to extend a personal "thank you" to Dave Gordon, who has put a great deal of time and effort into testing Duplicate File Detective v2.0. The quality of this release has benefited tremendously from his relentless attention to detail and thoughtful suggestions. Thank you Dave!

Version 1.5.3.0 (Released August 4th, 2007)

Bug fix: Resolved a problem with a key binary sorting algorithm that could cause some duplicates not be identified.
Bug fix: Resolved a file shell icon association bug in the main report view.
Bug fix: Resolved issue with folder and file scan / skip counts being off under certain conditions.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with the search paths docking panel not showing vertical scrollbars when its contents exceeded available window space.
Bug fix: Fixed a problem within the duplicate result manager window where radio button exclusivity was not properly enforced.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with large numbers of folder paths not being saved properly as part of the project.
Change: Default file name scan masks have been changed from "*.*' to "*", which matches a broader range of files (including those without extensions) by default.

Version 1.5.2.1 (Released October 10th, 2006)

Improvement: Added an option (under global settings) allowing Duplicate File Detective to follow file system re-parse points (off by default).
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with filename-based duplicate comparisons being case sensitive.

Version 1.5.2.0 (Released March 13th, 2006)

Improvement: Created a separate toolbar for managing duplicate file search results.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with sorting file size report columns w/ very large file sizes.
Other minor improvements and bug fixes.

Version 1.5.1.5 (Released August 21st, 2005)

Improvement: Report fields are now quoted during export to CSV format.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with filter criteria file name masks not honoring upper case characters (when the case sensitive masking switch is engaged).
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with small duplicate file result sets being ignored under specific, rare conditions.

Version 1.5.1.4 (Released August 5th, 2005)

Improvement: Added file icon to the file properties docking window.
Improvement: Implemented progress bar for XML file import process.
Improvement: Added cancel function to XML file import process.
Improvement: Made the read-only file properties grid a slightly darker shade of grey (to make them easier to read).
Improvement: Implemented more robust error logging for duplicate import processing. If, during the XML report import process, any parsing errors or warning occur, they will now be logged to a file named "XmlParseErrs.txt" in the product installation root folder.
Bug fix: Resolved a couple of problems with the XML report import process, mainly relating to report contents that reference remote (UNC) file paths.
Bug fix: Resolved a defect that prevented the application from closing correctly if duplicate search was in progress (search had to be cancelled first).
Bug fix: Resolved problem with "mark all files in group" when accessed via the duplicate group context menu.
Other cosmetic bug fixes.

Version 1.5.0.4 (Released June 20th, 2005)

New feature: Added a set of File Types docking panels to the bottom of the Duplicate File Detective window frame. These show the distribution of duplicate files (compared with total files scanned) of specific file types.
New feature: Added a new "appearance" tab to the global options window. These options provide additional control over the visual appearance and behavior of certain aspects of the application.
New feature: Added a new "file types" tab to the global options window. These are used to manage the behavior of the file types report and graph docking panels.
New feature: Added a new "file type" column to the primary report view. Important: this new column is not visible by default. In order to see it, simply select the "Report Field Chooser" option from the View menu. You can then drag and drop the new column into the report view at whatever column position you prefer. The file type column is also included in all report export formats.
Improvement: Numerous minor cosmetic improvements.
Improvement: Improved application performance in a number of key areas, but particularly in the displaying of duplicate search results.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with report view context menu "unmark files in group" option not working.
Bug fix: Resolved a problem with docking panes somtimes not re-drawing correctly when in auto-hide mode.
Product documentation updates, other minor bug fixes.

Version 1.1.0.0 (Released May 24th, 2005)

New feature: Added the ability to import duplicate file reports that were previously exported in XML format. Note that only XML export files can be re-imported with this feature (HTML and CSV exports can not).
New feature: Added a file type group editor, which allows users to modify what's available from within the filename masks Presets button.
Improvement: Added the ability to rename files using the report view context (right-click) menu.
Improvement: Added a new checkmark column header image to the main report view, and added code to make any checked file names appear in bold. Both steps were designed to add clarity to file marking capabilities.
Improvement: Added the ability to access product release notes from the Help menu.
Improvement: Added a "Warn if target file already exists" checkbox option to the export dialog.
Improvement: Added the exclusion path list to XML exports.
Improvement: Added the exclusion path list to summary report.
Improvement: Added context help buttons to a number of major dialog windows.
Bug fix: Fixed a problem with the Search Paths and Exclusions docking panels closing prematurely when being used in "auto hide" mode.
Bug fix: Certain characters within file names and folders were not being escaped properly during XML export operations. These are now wrapped in CDATA blocks to prevent parsing errors during consumption by third-party programs.
Bug fix: Resolved an issue where invalid date/time stamps on certain types of files could cause a terminating exception within Duplicate File Detective.
Bug fix: Resolved a bug with report column customizations causing duplicate result grouping problems. Specifically, automatic result grouping would engage the wrong column if the column positions were changed.
Bug fix: Fixed an issue with file name grouping being case sensitive.

Version 1.0.1.1 (Released May 12th, 2005)

First public product release