Member Avatar for Siberian

I don't know if a program like this exists, where on one side you would drag specific files \ folders you are looking for. On the other side of it would find those files on your HDD and show you where those files are, with the option if you wanted to delete them or move them to another folder ? The reason why I ask is because if some files got blended in with other files and you're not quite sure which ones to remove or move !

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kaninelupus

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A clear way to think about this is: you already have example files (as described). Instead of dragging them into an app that then magically scans every drive, a reliable workflow is to collect those example files into a short-lived "reference" folder and use either a duplicate‑finder GUI or a hash‑based search to locate identical files elsewhere. was right that drag implies you know the examples — the trick is telling a scanner which examples to match.

For a quick GUI route, use a duplicate finder or file search tool that can scan selected drives and then let you move/delete matches after review. Tools that work well are Everything for very fast filename searches, SearchMyFiles for advanced criteria, HashMyFiles to compute hashes, and Duplicate Cleaner for an integrated move/delete workflow. Put your sample files into a single folder, scan the target drives, and review matches before taking action.

If you prefer a precise, scriptable approach use file hashes. Example PowerShell pattern (replace paths as needed):

$refs = Get-ChildItem 'C:\RefFolder' -File
foreach ($r in $refs) {
  $refHash = Get-FileHash $r.FullName -Algorithm SHA256
  Get-ChildItem C:\,D:\ -File -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Where-Object { $_.Length -eq $r.Length } |
    ForEach-Object {
      if ((Get-FileHash $_.FullName -Algorithm SHA256).Hash -eq $refHash.Hash) { $_.FullName }
    }
}

Get-FileHash is documented by Microsoft: Get-FileHash (Microsoft Docs).

Safety tips: always dry‑run and review matches, move suspected duplicates to a quarantine folder before deleting, exclude Windows and program folders, and prefer hashing (or size+hash) rather than name-only comparisons to avoid false positives.

Member Avatar for kaninelupus

correct me if I've misunderstood you here, but if you are drag-and-dropping the file, doesn't that mean you already know the file's location??

Member Avatar for Siberian

correct me if I've misunderstood you here, but if you are drag-and-dropping the file, doesn't that mean you already know the file's location??

What I mean is, if you place the files in a area with a bunch of other files and had duplicates of the files, you would drag the duplicates into one side of the program, and the program would search your HDDs for those files and either delete them or move them in which you had copied somewhere on your computer. That is what I'm looking for :)

Member Avatar for kaninelupus

Hmmmm - still a little confused here.

The app I use is more than capable of locating files across multiple HDDs, but doesn't have the drag-drop functionality. Should do what you are after though.

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