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Looking for app that can compare directory structure

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888inc
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Last seen: 17 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: 2006-01-04 05:23
Looking for app that can compare directory structure

I'm pretty concerned about using my thumb drive in some public/shared computer. Is there a portable tool/app out there that I can use to track the changes made to my thumb drive? What I want to do is: take snapshots of the file/dir structure of my thumb drive, compare and report on file/dir added, deleted, changed in between these two snapshots. I just need to know which file has been changed, I don't need to know what content has been changed.

I know I can use md5sum to track which file has been changed, but it can't track creation of file/dir. Anyone out there can help?

sblandin
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Last seen: 8 years 9 months ago
Joined: 2006-02-16 05:12
Hmm...

I don't know if it is the right tool, but WinMerge maybe can help you.

WinMerge is basically a text file/directory structure comparer. You can set two path and it will show you which file/directory is present in both of them or only on one of them. If the file/directory is present in both position, it will show if one of them is different from the other. If there are differences in plain text file you can use a merge functionality to add/remove chunk from each one.

WinMerge is mainly a tool to keep syncronised different code project directories, but if you just need to compare two different path and see difference between them it will work. You can make a "safe" copy of your thumb drive directory structure on yor PC, then compare it each week/day/hour with the one currently on the thumb drive and, if everything is OK, you can copy your thumb drive again in the "safe" location.

Oh, and WinMerge comes with a no-installer version with batch file to register/unregister it, so it is almost portable!

sblandin

888inc
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Last seen: 17 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: 2006-01-04 05:23
Thanks, mate. This is close,

Thanks, mate. This is close, but not exactly what I'm looking for. The thing is I prefer it to compare to a "snapshot file" rather then to compare a "reference/master directory". I don't always have a "safe" master directory handy.

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