Dupe Eliminator Help Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

Advanced dupe criteria

markelsoft — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:48:51 CDT

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes provides various dupe and original criteria used to determine what is a duplicate and what is the original. By default, the song name, artist and album (dupe criteria: Song Name/Artist/Album) must match to be a duplicate. Additionally, the first occurrence of the song name, artist and album (original criteria: First Entry Found) is considered the original. Dupe criteria and other settings are changed using the Preferences window.

Use the various dupe criteria to specify what you think a duplicate should be. Use the various original criteria to determine which of the tracks that match should be considered the original track -- the one you want to keep.

Use the "File kept as original criteria " to specify which file to keep as the original. .e.g. the original kept should be the song with the highest 'Played count' or the one that is of the format 'MPEG audio file'. There are many options available. The default is to keep the first track found. i.e. if there are four songs that are duplicates keep the first in the four song set as the original.

Duplicates are displayed in red and dead links are displayed in yellow.

New settings include: Auto re-scan control, select a playlist to scan for dupes (other than the default 'Library') and exclude tracks in user created playlists.

Preference Settings Window

Playlist used:

Displays the playlist being used when checking for dupes. The default is the main 'Library' which is the iTunes Music Library.
If you desire to check for dupes and dead links in another playlist, use this option. Also displayed with the playlist is the number of tracks in the playlist.

Dupe criteria include:

Song Name/Artist
Song Name/Bit Rate
Song Name/Size
Song Name/Artist/Album (default dupe criteria)
Song Name/Artist/Bit Rate
Song Name/Artist/Format
Song Name/Artist/Size
Song Name/Size/Bit Rate
Song Name/Size/Format
Song Name/Artist/Size/Bit Rate
Song Name/Artist/Size/Format
Song Name/Artist/Album/Bit Rate
Song Name/Artist/Album/Format
Song Name/Artist/Album/Size
Song Name/Artist/Album/Size/Bit Rate
Song Name/Artist/Album/Size/Format
Song Location pattern match - matches song locations using a closest match. 'song.mp3' = 'song_1.mp3',
'11 song.mp3, 'song[1].mp3' or 'song(1).mp3'

Various dupe criteria are available.The dupe criteria preferences window can be displayed by using the Edit Preferences menu or by clicking on the information area above the headings.Preferences are stored, per user, in the directory {installation_dir}/config.

Original 'keep' criteria include:

"First Entry Found" (default original setting)

"Most Played",

"Newest Date Added",

"Oldest Date Added",

"Largest File Size",

"Smallest File Size",
"Longest Filename",
"Shortest Filename",

"Longest Time (Length)",

"Shortest Time (Length)",

"Highest Bit Rate",

"Lowest Bit Rate",

"AIFF Audio File",

"MPEG Audio File",

"Protected AAC audio file",

"Quicktime Audio File",

"WAV Audio File",

"Protected MPEG-4 Video File",

"MPEG-4 Video File",

"Quicktime Movie File",

"With Artwork"
"Purchased AAC Audio File"

Preferences - the preferences windows is used to change settings such as dupe criteria, options and file kept criteria:

Options:

Exclude tracks in user created playlists - if selected, all tracks in user created playlists (playlists other than the iTunes main playlists) will be skipped when checking for duplicates. Note: This option is useful when wanting to make sure a dupe isn't removing from a playlist that you still want the track in.
Auto re-scan library after removing a track - if selected, the iTunes Music Library is automatically rescanned after removing a track. The default is to auto re-scan.
Switch to iTunes when playing a song - when playing a song mnake iTunes visible and in the front. The default is to keep iTunes in the background.
Also remove actual file - indicates to remove the actual file AS WELL as the iTunes Music Library playlist entry.The default is to NOT remove actual file.
AND backup deleted file - if Also remove actual file is selected, this option can be selected to indicate whether to backup any deleted files. The to: location indicates where the deleted files will be backed up to. Use the Browse button to select another location. Ask before backup deleted file - if AND backup deleted file is selected, this option can be selected to indicate to prompt before actually backing up the file.
Include artwork - include artwork for song.

File kept as original criteria:

indicates the criteria to determine which file is kept as the orginal when there are duplicates.e.g. if there are 3 files that are duplicates which file should be kept as the original? The available criteria are:

First Entry Found (default)
Played Count
Newest Date Added
Oldest Date Added
Largest File Size
Smallest File Size
Longest Filename
Shortest Filename
Longest Time (Length)
Shortest Time (Length)
Highest Bit Rate
Lowest Bit Rate
AIFF Audio File
MPEG Audio File
Protected AAC audio file
Quicktime Audio File
WAV Audio File
Protected MPEG-4 Video File
MPEG-4 Video File
Quicktime Video File
Has artwork

Checks in the heading indicate which columns are including in the dupe criteria.

Note on Apple iTunes preferences:

If “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library” is selected then removing actual file removes the copy created by Apple iTunes.To have Dupe Eliminator remove the original file, uncheck “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library”.See example Apple iTunes preferences window (advanced tab) below:

Product Help

markelsoft — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:46:41 CDT

MarkelSoft Wikis

MarkelSoft Dupe Eliminator for iTunes - used to clean up your iTunes Music Library by easily finding and removing duplicate songs, TV shows, movies, podcasts, audiobooks and dead links (missing tracks) in your iTunes Music Library. Dupe Eliminator provides a very rich set of selection criteria for smartly identifying duplicates, originals and dead links.

The program can be scheduled and provides an AutoClean mode for automatic iTunes Music Library cleaning. Advanced features such as dupe criteria, original criteria, AutoClean, song search, sorting, artwork viewing, and playing songs.

Dupe Eliminator uses dupe criteria to identify what tracks are duplicates. Once the duplicates are found, the original keep criteria is used to determine which track is kept as the original. If the default dupe and original keep criteria do not meet your needs then there are many criteria to choose from to identify duplicates the way you desire.

New features include: auto re-scan control, remove entries from display only, specifying a playlist to scan for dupes, skipping tracks in user-created playlists, automatic backup of deleted files and UnDelete.

FAQs, Troubleshooting, & Screen snapshot

For Windows XP and Vista.

Feature summary:

Preferences - advanced dupe criteria - used to specify criteria for determining what is a duplicate and what is kept as the original. The default dupe criteria is song name, artist, and album. The default kept criteria is the first track found.
Automatic backup of deleted files - when turned on will automatically backup any deleted files. Backed up deleted files can be added back to iTunes at any time using UnDelete.
UnDelete - if automatic backing up of deleted files is turned on, UnDelete can be used to add deleted files back to iTunes.

Compact mode - run in a small window (like AutoClean mode) -- useful to keep an eye on a running scan.

Visual type indicator - original, duplicate, dead link, and duplicate dead link music files.

Show only duplicates - display all the duplicate songs, podcasts, TV shows, and movies.

Show only duplicates with originals - display all the duplicates along with their original tracks.

Show only duplicate movies - displays the duplicate movies.

Show only duplicate TV Shows - displays the duplicate TV Shows.

Show only duplicate podcasts - displays the duplicate podcasts.

Show only duplicate audiobooks - displays the duplicate audiobooks.
Show only dead links - displays the library links to files that no longer exist.

AutoClean mode automatically find duplicates and removes them using your currently selected criteria. You can schedule Dupe Eliminator to run in AutoClean mode to periodically find and remove duplicates. AutoClean command-line arguments can also be used to start the program in AutoClean mode.

Remove duplicates songs, movies, TV Shows, podcasts, or dead links from iTunes Music Library.

Remove actual file option - removes the actual disk file in addition to music library entry.

Search iTunes Music Library - search for any text in the display. Used to easily find an iTunes Music Library entry.
Remove entries from display only - can remove any entry from the display only -- no remove is done.

Song Details - display additional details such a actual filename and artwork on a song. Now includes ability to view other artwork and general information from the Internet.

Song Artwork - display the song artwork.

Play selected song - plays the currently selected song. A mouse double-click is a shortcut to play a song.

Play next song - plays the song after the currently selected song. A mouse double-click is a shortcut to play a song.

Launch iTunes - display the iTunes application window.

Sorting - easily sort on any column by clicking on a column heading. Selecting a sort column select the sort column. Selecting again toggles the sort between ascending and descending.

Save a report on the iTunes library to a file in tab-delimited EXCEL format for easy importing into a spreadsheet.

Print a report on the iTunes library.

Copy a report on the iTunes library to the clipboard in tab-delimited EXCEL format for easy importing into a spreadsheet. Sample in Open Office.

Email a report in HTML format. Sample in Yahoo mail.

System tray access

Troubleshooting

markelsoft — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:22:42 CDT

Help Solving Common Problems

When starting Dupe Eliminator for iTunes I get the error 'JVM could not be started'. What is this?
When starting Dupe Eliminator for iTunes I get a blank screen and nothing happens. I also see this error in my most recent log file.
OR I need to repair iTunes.
I have a very large library, > 40,000 tracks, and Dupe Eliminator for iTunes doesn't finish processing/hangs
When activating the product, I get an the error message 'Your activation key is incorrect. Please reenter...

1. "When starting Dupe Eliminator for iTunes I get the error 'JVM could not be started'. What is this?" - Dupe Eliminator for iTunes uses Java and when the application starts memory is reserved for the program. The default program settings allow for a maximum memory size of 1GB to be available to the program. If you are on a system where 1GB is not available you will get this error.

To fix it you need to override Dupe Eliminator for iTunes built-in defaults for memory usage. To do this you need to add one parameter when running the application.

Right-click on the Dupe Eliminator for iTunes desktop icon and click on properties.

Go to Target and add -J-Xmx512M to the end of the target. Make sure you add after the double quoted application exe path and name:

e.g."c:\Program Files\DupeEliminator\DupeEliminator.exe" -J-Xmx512M

This tells the program to use at the most 512MB (512 megabytes) -- adjust as needed.

2. "When starting Dupe Eliminator for iTunes I get a blank screen and nothing happens. I also see this error in my most recent log file (.e.g. c:\Program Files\DupeEliminator\logs\7-12-2008_Results.log): 'iTunes version is UNKNOWN! iTunes error - check your iTunes installation!' What is this?" - This problem is caused by a corrupted iTunes installation. The iTunes installation creates some Windows settings that are used by other applications such as Dupe Eliminator. These settings can sometimes become corrupted by other iTunes applications or rarely by iTunes itself.

Repair iTunes
To fix this problem you will need to run a repair on iTunes. Don't worry this does not mess with your iTunes Music Library, it just makes sure iTunes has all the correct files and double-checks iTunes Windows settings.

For XP, follow these steps:
Click the "Start menu" in the lower left of your screen
Click "Control Panel"
Click "Add or Remove Programs"
Scroll down until you see "iTunes" then click it.
Now click "Change" then click "Repair" and just let iTunes repair itself

For Vista, follow these steps:

Click the "Start menu" in the lower left of your screen
Click "Control Panel"
Click "Programs and Features"
Scroll down until you see "iTunes" then right-click it.
Now click "Repair" and just let iTunes repair itself

3. "I have a very large library, > 40,000 tracks, and Dupe Eliminator for iTunes doesn't finish processing/hangs" - this could be a running low on memory issue. Follow #1 above but increase the memory setting as follows:
e.g. "c:\Program Files\DupeEliminator\DupeEliminator.exe" -J-Xmx1300M
e.g. "c:\Program Files\DupeEliminator\DupeEliminator.exe" -J-Xmx1400M
etc... until Dupe Eliminator can not start. Note the highest setting that works and use this setting.
If you were able to use a setting of '-J-Xmx1300M' or higher, Dupe Eliminator for iTunes should run better...

4. "When activating the product, I get an the error message 'Your activation key is incorrect. Please reenter...'" .
Make sure you have entered no leading and trailing blanks for the activation key (also called activation ID).
Also make sure you are entering the activation key correctly or if you are pasting it from the clipboard that you copied the full activation key to the clipboard.
Copying the activation key you receive when you buy the product to the clipboard is the easiest way to enter your activation key.
For information on the Windows clipboard and copy and paste: introduction and examples.
If you still have problems, send an email requesting the lost or invalid activation key.

Remove actual file option

markelsoft — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:19:17 CDT

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can use various dupe criteria to determine what is a music file duplicate.

Various dupe criteria are available. The dupe criteria pereferences window can be displayed by using the Edit Preferences menu or by clicking on the information area above the headings. Preferences are stored, per user, in the directory {installation_dir}/config.

Preferences - dupe criteria, options, and file kept criteria:

Options:

Also remove actual file - indicates to remove the actual file AS WELL as the iTunes Music Library playlist entry.The default is to NOT remove actual file.

WARNING! This option PERMANENTLY deletes the file - it does not go to your Recycle Bin! It also has the side-effect, if the duplicate entry pointed to the same file, of deleting the song COMPLETELY.

UnDelete

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:59:10 CST

UnDelete is used to add any backed up deleted files back to iTunes. To enabled backing up deleted files see this section on using the Preferences. The UnDelete menu provides for viewing, removing, and undeleting files.

View Backup Deleted Files - shows all the backed up deleted files.
UnDelete Specific - used to undelete a specific backed up deleted file. A list of all the backed up deleted files is display from which one or more files can be selected to undelete and added back to iTunes.
UnDelete All - used to undelete all the backed up deleted files.
Remove All Backup Deleted Files - used to remove all the backed up deleted files.

Automatic backup of deleted files

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:47:21 CST

A new option is now available for Dupe Eliminator for iTunes. This option allows for backing up any deleted files. This option when on will automatically backup any deleted dupes to a backup deleted files directory.

Use the Preferences Options to enable this setting.

To enable automatic backing up of deleted files:

select Also remove actual file
select AND backup deleted file
by default the deleted files will be backed up to the {Dupe Eliminator for iTunes installation directory}/deleted_files unless you use the Browse button, as was done above, to specify another directory to use.
optionally Ask before backup deleted file can be use to prompt before any deleted file is backed up. A simple yes|no response is requested at the prompt.

To add any of the backed up deleted files to iTunes at any time use UnDelete.

AutoClean mode

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:22:57 CST

AutoClean mode is used to automatically find and remove dupllicates and dead links.

Progam command-line autoclean parameters:

this mode may also be entered when starting Dupe Eliminator by using -autoclean or -autocleannoexit-autoclean, Dupe Eliminator will enter auto clean mode to find and remove duplicates then it will automatically exit. -autocleannoexit says do normal auto clean processing but will not exit when done.

Scheduling AutoClean:

to have Windows automatically run autoclean every N hours or days, use the Windows Scheduler (see the menu View->Scheduler). Locate the Dupe Eliminator .exe in the installation directory and then use the program argument -autoclean.

Show only duplicates with originals

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:21:40 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes by default shows all the iTunes Music Library files and shows the duplicates in red.
However, you can show just duplicates using the View->Duplicates menu or Duplicates tab. You can also display
the originals next the duplicates. To enter this view use the View->Duplicates with originals menu. To exit to the
normal dupes only view use the View->Duplicates menu.

Show only duplicates

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:21:15 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes by default shows all the iTunes Music Library files and shows the duplicates in red.
However, you can show just duplicates using the View->Duplicates menu or Duplicates tab.
You can also show originals along with the dupes by using the View menu.

Show only duplicate TV Shows

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:15:10 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes by default shows all the iTunes Music Library files and shows the duplicates in red.

However, you can show just duplicate TV Shows using the View->Duplicate TV Shows or duplicate TV Shows tab.

Show only duplicate podcasts

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:14:07 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes by default shows all the iTunes Music Library files and shows the duplicates in red.

However, you can show just duplicate podcasts using the View->Duplicate Podcasts menu or duplicate
podcasts tab.

Show only duplicate movies

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:13:01 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes by default shows all the iTunes Music Library files and shows the duplicates in red.
However, you can show just duplicate movies using the View->Duplicate Movies menu or Duplicate Movies tab.

Show only dead links

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:11:48 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes by default shows all the iTunes Music Library files and shows the duplicates
in red.However, you can show just dead links using the View->Dead Links menu or Dead Links tab.
A dead link is a Music Library entry that has no actual music file.

List all files in iTunes Music Library

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:08:45 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes does everything by talking with iTunes to process the iTunes Music Library.
When done processing the library, the full library entries are displayed with duplicates highlighted in red
and indicates if there are any dead links. The legend at the bottom of the window indicates what the icon
in the first columns stands for (original, duplicate, dead link, or duplicate dead link music file). The information
is organized in tabs titled “All”, “Dupes Only”, “Dead Links Only”, and “Dupe Podcasts Only”.


	Toolbar:

Reprocess the music library and refresh the list. Program command-line refresh parameters: when Dupe Eliminator starts it automatically processin the iTunes Music Library looking for duplicates etc... To turn this off when starting the program, use the -autoOff, parameter.

Stop current Music Library processing.
Display your preferences.

Automatically process and remove duplicates. Program command-line autoclean parameters: this mode may also be entered when starting Dupe Eliminator by using -autoclean or -autocleannoexit program parameters.When using -autoclean, Dupe Eliminator will enter auto clean mode to find and remove duplicates then it will automatically exit. -autocleannoexit says do normal auto clean processing but will not exit when done. Scheduling AutoClean: to have Windows automatically run autoclean every N hours or days, use the Windows Scheduler (see the menu View->Scheduler). Locate the Dupe Eliminator .exe in the installation directory and then use the program argument -autoclean.

Remove selected (highlighted) duplicates or dead links.Use the All, Podcasts, and Dead Links buttons to control what is displayed.To remove all duplicates songs, select the All button then click remove. To remove all duplicate podcasts, select the Podcasts button then click remove.To remove all Dead Links, select the Dead Links button then click remove.Selecting the Dupes button displays only duplicate songs and clicking remove removes all the duplicates -- basically the same as the All button except that all other iTunes Music Library are not displayed.

Preview remove operation.No Tunes Music Library or song files are deleted.

Search list for a text string

	Show song details
	Play the selected song
	Play the next song after selected song
	Show the iTunes application

Search iTunes Music Library

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:55:16 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can search the iTunes Music Library for any text.


	Searching:


	Search - searches for the first occurrence of the specified text.If the Search text changes to Next. Search All - searches for all occurrences of the text. All occurrences are selected. Top - starts the search from the top. Cancels - cancels the search and closes the window.

Launch iTunes

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:44:49 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can launch iTunes. Typically you do not need to do this since iTunes is launched when you start Dupe Eliminator.However, if you exit iTunes you can restart it using the iTunes toolbar button. Note: if you exit iTunes when Dupe Eliminator is running and then have problems refreshing your Dupe Eliminator list, exit Dupe Eliminator and restart.


	Launching iTunes:

Email a report

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:44:04 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can email a report in HTML format to a person. Use the File-->Email
menu to save a report.


	Email Report:


	Note: if you have problems emailing information, see ./cfg/email.cfg in the installation directory for email configuration settings.

Copy a report

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:43:35 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can copy a report to the clipboard in tab-delimitted EXCEL format.
This is useful for importing in a spreadsheet program. Use the Edit-->Copy menu to save a report.


	Copy Report:

Sample in Open Office

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:32:06 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can copy a report to the clipboard in tab-delimitted EXCEL format.
This is useful for importing in a speardsheet program. Use the Edit-->Copy menu to save a report.


	Copy Report:

Remove duplicates songs, movies, TV Shows, podcasts, or dead links

markelsoft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:29:33 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes does everything by talking with iTunes to process the iTunes Music Library.
When done processing the library, the full library entries are displayed with duplicates highlighted in red
and indicates if there are any dead links. The legend at the bottom of the window indicates what the icon
in the first columns stands for (original, duplicate, dead link, or duplicate dead link music file).The information
is organized in tabs titled “All”, “Dupes Only”, “Dead Links Only”, and “Dupe Podcasts Only”


	Toolbar:

	Reprocess the music library and refresh the list. Program command-line refresh parameters: when Dupe Eliminator starts it automatically processin the iTunes Music Library looking for duplicates etc... To turn this off when starting the pogram, use the -autoOff, parameter.
	Automatically process and remove duplicates. *Progam command-line autoclean parameters:this mode may also be entered when starting Dupe Eliminator by using -autoclean* or -autocleannoexit program parameters.When using -autoclean, Dupe Eliminator will enter auto clean mode to find and remove duplicates then it will automatically exit. -autocleannoexit says do normal auto clean processing but will not exit when done. *Scheduling AutoClean: to have Windows automatically run autoclean every N hours or days, use the Windows Scheduler (se the menu View->Scheduler). Locate the Dupe Eliminator .exe in the installation directory and then use the program argument -autoclean*.
	Remove selected (highlighted) duplicates or dead links.Use the All, Podcasts, and Dead Links buttons to control what is displayed.To remove all duplicates songs, select the All button then click remove. To remove all duplicate podcasts, select the Podcasts button then click remove.To remove all Dead Links, select the Dead Links button then click remove.Selecting the Dupes button displays only duplicate songs and clicking remove removes all the duplicates -- basically the same as the All button except that all other iTunes Music Library are not displayed.
	Preview remove operation.No Tunes Music Library or song files are deleted.
	Search list for a text string

	Show song details
	Play the selected song
	Play the next song after selected song
	Show the iTunes application
	Sync iTunes with iPod


	Processed iTunes Music Library and showing duplicates: