User manual

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otherwise use. You can of course reactivate it at any time.
Windows Messenger
Windows Messenger is a program that lets you exchange instant messages with friends. If you do not
use Windows Messenger, you can easily remove it from your computer here.
Index for Windows Desktop Search
Desktop Search is a Windows function that allows you to find files and folders quickly. It creates a
search index with entries for each file and folder. When you search for something (in Windows Explorer
or Outlook, for example), you search only this index instead of searching the entire hard disk. This
makes the process much quicker. Depending on the number of files on your hard disk, this index can be
quite large and may require lots of memory.
If you do not use Windows Desktop Search, then you can not only free up disk space by disabling the
feature, but also increase your computer's performance.
9.5. Finding and Removing Duplicate Files
In this chapter, you will find out how you can use the AVG Duplicate Finder module to locate various
duplicate files or folders on your hard disk and subsequently remove them.
A hard drive resembles a family garage – junk expands to fill available space. An SSD drive behaves very much
the same way, while being considerably smaller. You may not notice it at first sight, but a deeper look will
surely reveal a few dozen duplicate files (or even whole folders) on your hard drive, eating up precious disk
space.
AVG Duplicate Finder lends you a hand in the tedious yet rewarding task of removing duplicate files or
folders from your computer. With its help, your digital junk levels will be notably reduced. It can search for files
or folders with the same name, the same size, and/or the exact same contents. It also helps you examine
each file or folder and decide which one to keep. Finally, it can ignore small files, so you can concentrate on
the more wasteful redundancy.
9.5.1. How to Find Duplicate Files
Start the AVG Duplicate Finder module by going to the Clean Up category in the Start Center and selecting
Find and remove duplicate files from the Analyze storage usage and delete data area.
Next, click the Scan for Duplicates button to start searching for duplicate files or folders on your hard drive.
By default, the whole disk is being scanned; however, you can narrow your selection down by specifying a
particular area of you hard drive. The scan usually takes only a few seconds. After it's finished, the AVG
Duplicate Finder displays a new dialog, allowing you to view all duplicates that were found during the
scanning.
Now you can decide whether you want to remove or to keep your findings. All duplicates are sorted by
category (Folders, Pictures, Music, Videos, Documents, Others). Switch between category views by clicking
their names in the column on the right. You can also use the roll-down menu to sort files in each category (by
size, by name etc.) in ascending or descending order. In case of some files (images, for example), a small
preview is available, helping you to decide what to do with them.
A folder is considered to be duplicate in case it solely contains duplicate files. If only some files in a folder are
identical, these files will be shown in a respective category (Pictures, Music etc.), but the folder as whole won't