program to compare folder contents

[chermany4ever]

Hi guys. Couple months ago finally got tired of struggling with XP and I'm now using Windows 11 (X-Lite). Have folders with a lot of files that I sync frequently and every now and then I like to do a thorough comparison to ensure consistency. The program I've always used for this task is FreeFileSync and it works very well. Problem is, when you compare for content many folders and the total size exceeds 500gb total comparison time can be around... 6 hours! That's why, as always, did some research on other programs that might offer an intermediate solution.

 

Tried many of the well-known alternatives like WinMerge and Beyond Compare. Saw that when comparing files they offer other methods -that I understand don't involve opening the files- which, in theory, should save time. At first I thought I'd found the solution but finally -after some testing- realized that the time they took was almost the same: around six hours.

 

I was hoping to find some program that would give reliable results improving the wait time. Since I haven't found one, thought I'd ask. Perhaps one of you has found a solution? Most of the files I compare are video and music. Again, I've tried MANY of these programs but when the comparison goes beyond name/date/size the times increase far beyond what I'd like.       

Edited 45 minutes ago by chermany4ever

[NotHereToPlayGames]

I used to use Directory Opus for syncing files between internal HDD and external archive HDD.

But note that it isn't free but does offer a free trial to see if if works for you.

Mine is a very old version and I've not bothered to see if it migrates to Win10 with my current (old) license.