Dupe Eliminator Help Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

System tray access

markelsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:03:41 CST

Once Dupe Eliminator for iTunes is running, an icon is added to the system tray areas (bottom right-hand
corner of screen). When right-clicked the icon displays the following menu for easy access to program
functions:

Preferences - Advanced dupe criteria

markelsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:45 CST

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.

e.g. the original kept could be the song with the highest 'Played count' or the one that is of the format 'MPEG audio file'.
The default is to keep the first track found (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.

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 scan criteria:

Song Name/Artist
Song Name/Album
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 Name/Artist/Album/Track Number
Song Name/Time
Song Name/Artist/Time
Song Name/Artist/Album/Time
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.

Other Scan Preferences:

Use first N characters of Song Name - if selected, specifies to use the first N characters of the Song Name when matching. Use the drop-down list to select the number of characters you desire.
Use another media player other than iTunes when playing a song - if selected, specifies to use a player other than iTunes when playing songs. The default alternative player is VLC (see VideoLan web site) but can be another selected player if you desire.
Include songs with sizes from N to NN - this setting is only available for dupe criteria pertaining to size and allows you to specify a size range you are interested in. e.g. 10 MB to 100 MB.
You can also enter you own sizes such as 10.3 MB, 10.3 GB or 10000 (for bytes). A starting or ending size range value of ANY indicates any size is allowed.
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.
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.

Dupe Display Preferences:

Dupe display color - allows you to set the display color for duplicates.
Dead display color - allows you to set the display color for dead links (~missing files).

Dupe Remove (Delete) Preferences:

In addition to removing iTunes Music Library entry, delete actual file from disk.
Backup deleted files - if Also remove actual file is selected, this option can be selected to indicate whether to backup any deleted files.

To: specifies the location indicates where the deleted files will be backed up to. Use the Browse button to select another location.
Prompt user before backing up deleted files - prompts the user before deleted files are backed up

Display album artwork thumbnails in scan list - indicates to include a thumbnail of any artwork artwork in the scan display.

Resize album artwork thumbnail - indicates to allow resizing of the album artwork thumbnail. The default thumbnail size is 60 pixels in size (60 X 60). Use the slider to adjust the album artwork thumbnail size. A size preview is displayed.

Set kept oriinal songs to be the:

"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"

Dupe scan criteria indicates in the scan list display:
Check marks in the heading indicate which columns are including in the dupe criteria. Up or down arrow indicate the sort direction: ascending or descending.

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:

Song artwork

markelsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:16 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can show details for a song.This can be done by selecting the song and clicking on the Song Details toolbar button. Clicking the song details thumbnail image, if any, displays the full-sie image for the song artwork.Song artwork is kept in the directory *{installation_dir}/artwork*.

List all files in iTunes Music Library

markelsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:56:05 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 egend 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”, “Duplicates”, “Dead Links”, “Duplicate Movies”, “Duplicate TV Shows”, “Duplicate Podcasts”, “Duplicate Audiobooks”, and “Library Report”,


	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

	Show the iTunes application Sync iTunes with your iPod or iPhone

Play selected song

markelsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:54:41 CST

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes can play a song. This can be song by selecting the song and clicking on the Play toolbar button or by double-clicking a song.If a song is already playing, the play button and menu (Controls->Play) will change to pause.


	Playing a song:

Product Help

markelsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:52:50 CST

MarkelSoft Wikis

MarkelSoft Dupe Eliminator for iTunes - if you're like most iTunes users, you probably have dozens (if not hundreds) of duplicate songs cluttering your playlists, taking up valuable space on your hard drive, and generally causing you grief. New features include enhanced user interface, dupe criteria for time, library report visualization, and artwork filter.

Dupe Eliminator is an intuitive tool for Windows 7, Vista and XP that removes all those duplicate files quickly and easily, including songs, movies, TV shows, podcasts and audiobooks. It also provides a tab for a quick Library Report.

With Dupe Eliminator, you'll never again have to manually slog through thousands of files looking for the tracks that play over and over again, or that maddening dead link to your favorite song that never works.

Dupe Eliminator makes it simple to distinguish between a duplicate file and the original.

Anyone who has amassed an extensive music collection knows how difficult it is to organize all those files by hand. Who has the patience to painstakingly go through their iTunes library and remove one by one every duplicate and dead file?

Key Features of Dupe Eliminator

Smart Search: Smart searching allows you to precisely specify criteria for duplicates so that you never end up deleting something you wanted to save.

AutoClean Mode: Automatically clean your iTunes library without lifting so much as a finger.

Scheduled Search: Define a schedule for Dupe Eliminator to check your iTunes library when your at work, sleeping... whenever you want.

Audiobook Support: Eliminate your audiobook dupes.

Dead Tracks Eliminator: Get rid of those pesky tracks that never seem to play, as well as the "phantom" tracks that show up in your library but don't actually exist on your hard drive.

Determine what you want to keep: Like having more than one track of a certain song? You can keep whatever you like, and you can specify which file stays as the original and which one is marked as the duplicate.

UnDelete: If you make a mistake, then use UnDelete to restore the removed track(s) back to iTunes.

Who Needs Dupe Eliminator for iTunes?
You do if you've ever:

Been frustrated by dead or duplicate tracks in your iTunes library. Dead tracks or dead links are music library entries whose file no longer exists.

Wanted a quick and efficient way to organize your music files.

Needed an option to organize your songs, videos, audiobooks, or podcasts.

Quick Help

FAQs | Troubleshooting | Filtered display | Screen snapshot | Need to switch iTunes to another iTunes Music Library to scan?

For Windows XP and Vista.

How To

How do I use Preferences to set 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.
How do I automatically backup 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.
How do I use UnDelete? - if automatic backing up of deleted files is turned on, UnDelete can be used to add deleted files back to iTunes.

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

What do the Visual type indicators mean? - original, duplicate, dead link, and duplicate dead link music files.

How do I show only duplicates? - display all the duplicate songs, podcasts, TV shows, and movies.

How do I show only duplicates with originals? - display all the duplicates along with their original tracks.

How do I show only duplicate movies? - displays the duplicate movies.

How do I show only duplicate TV Shows? - displays the duplicate TV Shows.

How do I show only duplicate podcasts? - displays the duplicate podcasts.

How do I show only duplicate audiobooks? - displays the duplicate audiobooks.
How do I show only dead links? - displays the library links to files that no longer exist.

What is 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.

How do I remove duplicates songs, movies, TV Shows, podcasts, or dead links from iTunes Music Library?

How do I remove actual file option? - removes the actual disk file in addition to music library entry.

How do I search iTunes Music Library? - search for any text in the display. Used to easily find an iTunes Music Library entry.
How do I 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.

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

Launching 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.

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

Printing a report on the iTunes library.

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

Emailing a report in HTML format. View a sample in Yahoo mail.

Using the System tray access

Show only duplicate TV Shows

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:37:22 CDT

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 movies

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:37:05 CDT

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 duplicates with originals

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:36:43 CDT

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 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:36:21 CDT

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.

Other Options

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:35:51 CDT

Some other options available are represented by two button icons in the bottom right-hand portion of the window such as entering Compact Mode:

- enters compact mode. Compact mode switches to a small status window similar to what AutoClean mode uses. If the window icon is clicked or the window is shown using the system tray menu, compact mode is exited.
- minimizes the window.
- shows the log viewer
- displays program system information
- displays program help information

Automatic backup of deleted files

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:35:13 CDT

An 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.

System Tray Service

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:26:15 CDT

The system tray service is represented by a small icon in the Windows system tray in the bottom right -hand corner of your screen.To use the service, right click on the icon to see an example and the options shown below.

Note: if after you install Dupe Eliminator for iTunes you do not see the service icon, you will have two options:

Run DupeEliminatorTray.exe in the Dupe Eliminator installation directory which by default is c:\Program Files\DupeEliminator.
Restart your PC and the service is automatically started when your PC starts up.

Dupe Eliminator Help - displays program help wiki.
------------------------------------------
Hide - minimize the program window.
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Preferences - displays the Preferences Settings window from which you can view and set program settings. There are many
settings for identifying duplicates, automatically backup deleted files, what tracks to saved as originals and much, much more.
------------------------------------------
AutoClean - runs AutoClean which automatically processes and cleans you iTunes Music Library using your current defaults.
Scheduler- opens the Windows Scheduler from which you can schedule the automatic running of Dupe Eliminator for iTunes at startup.
------------------------------------------
Log Viewer - opens the log viewer from which you can select and view and log file..
View Logs in Explorer - opens the Windows Explorer to view the contents of the Dupe Eliminator for iTunes logs directory.
------------------------------------------
View Saved Deleted Files - view the list of deleted files that were saved when autosave was on.
------------------------------------------
Refresh - refresh the display by re-running the scan of the iTunes Music Library.
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All - shows all entries with duplicates and dead links highlighted.
Duplicates - show only duplicates
Duplicate with originals- show duplicate with the track that they are duplicate of.
Dead links - show only dead links entries with missing files).
Duplicate Movies - show only duplicate movies.
Duplicate TV Shows - show only duplicate TV Shows.
Duplicate Podcasts - show only duplicate podcasts.
Duplicate Audiobooks - show only duplicate audiobooks.
------------------------------------------
Search - search display for the specified text. Use Filter (top part of window) if you want to display only the results.
------------------------------------------
Launch iTunes - starts/brings iTunes to the foreground.
------------------------------------------
About - displays the Dupe Eliminator "about the program" window.

Sample in Yahoo Mail

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:58:27 CDT

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.

Sample in Open Office

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:53:16 CDT

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:

Launch iTunes

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:45:57 CDT

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:

Show only audiobooks

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:03:45 CDT

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

Show only dead links

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:09 CDT

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.

Show only duplicate podcasts

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:58:01 CDT

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.

Visual type indicator

markelsoft — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:51:04 CDT

Dupe Eliminator for iTunes displays an icon in the first column of the display which indicates the type of music file.The type may be:

original music file
duplicate music file
dead link music file
duplicate dead link music file

A legend at the bottom of the window provides a summary of what each icon means.