Is there a tutorial available any where on how to delete duplicates safely? Thanks. YOYO.

Dup Killer is a free utility that identifies duplicates as well as letting you delete them.

http://dupkiller.bira.ck.ua/index_en.html

As with any "clean up" application, a wise user will not simply push the "delete all" button, but will review the candidates presented as duplicates for deletion. Remember that WHERE a file resides is often extremely important, and that some files may actually need to reside in several places.
Regards,
John

Personally I am wary with cleaning up duplicates. Cleaning up the wrong duplicate could cause a program not to work. Alot of dlls are duplicated in windows, but they may be different versions. If you delete an older one, a program that requires it may no longer work.

Lawrence & John: The points you have raised are absolutely germane to the issue. One need to keep these critical points in mind prior to undertaking any deletion of duplicates. I , myself am very, very wary when doing deletion of duplicates, but what do you do with all these unnecessary duplicates taking up all those valuable space? Can you suggest a credible software one may employ to minimize the inherent danger in doing deletion of duplicates?? Or facilitate in identification of the duplicates ?? Or would it be best not to do any deletion of duplicates?? Thank you very much for everything. YOYO.

This day and age is space really that valuable? When you consider that you can go out and purchase a brand 160 gb hard drive for under $60, and that the duplicates may be taking upcouple hundred megs at the most..it does not seem like a big deal anymore.

Lawrence: Your point is very well taken. In weighting what the consequences may be by a misdirection? I shudder in having to deal with the nightmare of removing a file by mistake. I have concluded that it is best to leave the duplicates alone. And, life is easier in getting a large hard drive to remedy the issue of space than it is to try to deal with an inoperable computer precipitated by deletion errors. This is a very valuable lesson here indeed. I appreciate all your support and words of wisdom. Thank you very much. Regards. YOYO.