Live chat history showed that NoClone never write to disk being compared, so no harm to disks.
1:41:06 PM [Reasonable] hello, I am Sophia, may i help you? 1:41:53 PM [Visitor] hi can you please respond to my forum bug issue? 1:42:35 PM [Visitor] http://support.reasonablesw.com/forums/624/ShowPost.aspx 1:42:56 PM [Reasonable] are you viking3? 1:42:59 PM [Visitor] yes 1:45:31 PM [Reasonable] hi viking3 1:45:35 PM [Reasonable] this is Alan 1:45:49 PM [Reasonable] I felt sorry about corrupted partition 1:46:01 PM [Reasonable] however, NoClone write only search result to disk 1:46:23 PM [Reasonable] no code that will destroy your partition 1:46:32 PM [Reasonable] how old is your hard drive? 1:46:53 PM [Reasonable] and the brand? 1:47:17 PM [Reasonable] i recommend you to use chkdsk /f to fix the problem 1:47:33 PM [Reasonable] and replace your hard drive if too old e.g. >3 years 1:47:34 PM [Visitor] It is an external hard drive 2 months old 1:47:52 PM [Visitor] If you read my secondf post I used chkdsk 1:47:59 PM [Visitor] lost > 1 GN of data 1:48:19 PM [Visitor] it is a Maxtor btw 1:48:44 PM [Visitor] So NoClone does not write any data during the comparison? 1:48:58 PM [Reasonable] yes, NoClone store search result to disk 1:49:14 PM [Reasonable] but it will not override your existing data 1:49:16 PM [Visitor] This was during comparison 1:49:38 PM [Visitor] Is any data written to disk during comparison? 1:49:49 PM [Visitor] It cant all be in memeory..?? 1:49:58 PM [Visitor] memory 1:50:07 PM [Reasonable] yes, NoClone write your search result to disk 1:50:17 PM [Reasonable] it can take up to 1-2GB for large search 1:50:18 PM [Visitor] during the comparison? 1:50:27 PM [Visitor] Where is it written? 1:50:51 PM [Visitor] I have multiple hard drives 1:51:15 PM [Visitor] Is it written on any of the drives that are being read? 1:51:25 PM [Visitor] or on the Windows drive? 1:51:25 PM [Reasonable] For Vista, E:\Users\alan\AppData\Roaming\Reasonable Software House Ltd\NoClone 2007\4.1.42 1:51:31 PM [Visitor] XP 1:51:34 PM [Reasonable] where alan is the Windows's user name 1:51:53 PM [Visitor] I see, so it writes on the Wiondows instllation drive 1:51:57 PM [Visitor] C: in my case 1:52:11 PM [Visitor] the drives I was comparing were H & J 1:52:33 PM [Visitor] both 1 TB drives 1:52:34 PM [Reasonable] C:\Users\alan\AppData\Reasonable Software House Ltd\NoClone 2007\4.1.42 1:52:56 PM [Reasonable] yes, write to Windows installation drive 1:53:03 PM [Visitor] so no data is written on the external drives that I was comparing? 1:53:05 PM [Reasonable] does this info helps? 1:53:09 PM [Reasonable] yes 1:53:54 PM [Visitor] Well,, then there is a mystery why I got delayed write errors and a corrupted partition 1:54:05 PM [Visitor] TThe dirve hard ware is fine 1:54:13 PM [Visitor] I repaired using checkdsk 1:54:20 PM [Visitor] but a lot of data was lost 1:54:36 PM [Visitor] No other application was accessing the drive 1:55:05 PM [Reasonable] NoClone only read the file contents on the drives that you scan 1:55:18 PM [Visitor] Very strange 1:55:29 PM [Reasonable] you may try data recovery software like undelete to see if this help 1:55:59 PM [Visitor] It will be a nightmare on a 1 TB drive.... 1:56:29 PM [Visitor] btw, did you see my other posts in the comments section? 1:56:52 PM [Reasonable] which one do you mean? 1:57:06 PM [Visitor] http://support.reasonablesw.com/forums/94/ShowPost.aspx 1:57:28 PM [Visitor] and http://support.reasonablesw.com/forums/214/ShowPost.aspx 1:57:36 PM [Visitor] both at the bottom of the threads 1:57:42 PM [Reasonable] you mean MD5? 1:57:45 PM [Visitor] yes 1:58:01 PM [Visitor] Is there any way that you can add a checksum option? 1:58:17 PM [Reasonable] in fact, we have optimized NoClone to read the files to be compared only once 1:58:51 PM [Reasonable] so, this will help to increase performance of true byte-by-byte comparison 1:59:06 PM [Visitor] Still woudl be faster with checksum 1:59:12 PM [Reasonable] so NoClone is not that slow than software use MD5 to compare 1:59:29 PM [Reasonable] check sum will result in false duplicates! 1:59:42 PM [Visitor] yes, but in some cases that is acceptable 1:59:54 PM [Visitor] the Speed gain is worth it 2:00:01 PM [Reasonable] we can add a option in the future but pls be reminded that false duplicates will be resulted. 2:00:18 PM [Visitor] This is strange: I made another post about it but it has been deleted 2:00:32 PM [Reasonable] what's about? 2:00:36 PM [Visitor] Did you delete my 2nd p[ost? 2:00:42 PM [Visitor] It was in the same theread 2:00:48 PM [Reasonable] no 2:01:33 PM [Visitor] I made a comment that using a checksum also has the advantage of being able to generate a database 2:01:51 PM [Visitor] I am still using an old but very sueful program for this 2:01:57 PM [Visitor] dupemaster.com 2:02:17 PM [Visitor] It creates a db of scanned files on removable media 2:02:26 PM [Visitor] I have 20 external harddrives... 2:02:33 PM [Reasonable] i c 2:02:40 PM [Visitor] I want to save the chceksums in a database 2:02:53 PM [Visitor] so that I can compare against new files 2:03:02 PM [Reasonable] but there is no more new versions for dupemaster 2:03:06 PM [Visitor] have you seen dupemaster 2:03:09 PM [Reasonable] ic 2:03:15 PM [Reasonable] a new idea to add 2:03:28 PM [Visitor] I know. It is a pity. It is the best software in its class. 2:03:44 PM [Visitor] NoClone has one very useful feature 2:03:48 PM [Reasonable] oh really 2:03:54 PM [Visitor] it can find unique files 2:04:04 PM [Visitor] very few other products can do this 2:04:22 PM [Visitor] I often have two directories with many identical files 2:04:43 PM [Visitor] I only want ot find the unique files and move them elsewhere 2:05:13 PM [Visitor] However, it woudl be great if it was possible to ONLY compare 2 directories against each other 2:05:18 PM [Reasonable] you can try WinDiff 2:05:23 PM [Reasonable] that comes with Windows 2:05:28 PM [Reasonable] for comparing directories 2:05:39 PM [Visitor] Yes, but this assumes that the structure is the same 2:05:41 PM [Reasonable] no WinDiff won't move files for you 2:05:46 PM [Visitor] In my case they are not 2:06:01 PM [Reasonable] so NoClone helps 2:06:17 PM [Visitor] Yes. 2:06:37 PM [Visitor] http://support.reasonablesw.com/forums/214/ShowPost.aspx 2:07:21 PM [Visitor] Can this be implemented? 2:07:40 PM [Visitor] It woudl help when comaring 2 directories to find unique files 2:07:58 PM [Visitor] Are you still developing the product? 2:08:08 PM [Visitor] Not much seems to be happening..... 2:08:52 PM [Reasonable] the post was in 2006 and latest NoClone can fulfill the need 2:09:10 PM [Reasonable] please try 'Compare against master folders' 2:09:16 PM [Visitor] That does not work 2:09:28 PM [Reasonable] so you can compare file set A against set B 2:09:34 PM [Reasonable] why? 2:09:40 PM [Visitor] Because duplicates are still searched in A 2:09:54 PM [Visitor] I want only to search BETWEEN A & B 2:10:19 PM [Visitor] ignoring duplicates within A and B 2:10:39 PM [Reasonable] let me test it 2:10:48 PM [Visitor] I already tested it 2:10:59 PM [Visitor] IF B is Master 2:11:12 PM [Visitor] files are not searched within B 2:11:26 PM [Visitor] However, they are searched within A 2:12:24 PM [Visitor] I need to leave.... 2:12:43 PM [Visitor] However, I woudl be very interested beta testing your product 2:12:50 PM [Visitor] If you are still developing it? 2:12:51 PM [Reasonable] after a quick test 2:12:55 PM [Reasonable] you are right 2:12:56 PM [Visitor] I have a lot of requests 2:13:15 PM [Reasonable] ok, thanks for being our beta tester 2:13:20 PM [Visitor] there is simply no dupechecker out there that can do what I need :-( 2:13:22 PM [Reasonable] could you leave me your email? 2:13:52 PM [Visitor] sure, I have tried to register several times for the forum. All registration attempts failed except the last one 2:13:56 PM [Reasonable] I know your technical requirement but can't realize the scenerio 2:14:29 PM [Visitor] Is there some way of removing the failed E-maisl in the foum? 2:14:48 PM [Visitor] Please use: rbrandes@*****.edu 2:14:53 PM [Reasonable] tell me your email and I can activate forum account for you. 2:15:02 PM [Reasonable] ok 2:15:15 PM [Visitor] Please cahnge viking3 E-mail to the one above 2:15:22 PM [Reasonable] ok 2:15:32 PM [Visitor] also. please remove rb@***.**.com 2:15:40 PM [Visitor] and viking2ev@ 2:15:50 PM [Visitor] viking2ev@****.com 2:15:51 PM [Reasonable] could you tell me the scenerio that made you for such comparison? 2:15:56 PM [Visitor] sure 2:16:28 PM [Visitor] it is in mu post: I often have two sets (directories) where each set internally have several duplicates and most files exist in both sets. I am trying to find the few unique files in each set (files that exist in one set but not in the other). Thus, I want to spend as little time as possible searching for internal duplicates. 2:17:09 PM [Reasonable] what are the typical file set? 2:17:19 PM [Reasonable] files that extracted from zip? 2:17:30 PM [Visitor] No. They are individual files 2:17:48 PM [Reasonable] it seems this is not common? 2:18:11 PM [Reasonable] is that back copy of files? 2:18:17 PM [Visitor] I may have a desktop and a laptop. I copy the hard drive form the DT to the LT 2:18:32 PM [Visitor] I then go traveling and write several fiels to the LT 2:18:42 PM [Visitor] and change the directory structure 2:18:58 PM [Visitor] now I wan to find the new files 2:19:06 PM [Visitor] or fiels that have changed 2:19:12 PM [Visitor] scenario2: 2:19:13 PM [Reasonable] in general, file synchronization can help in this scenerio 2:19:34 PM [Visitor] Not if the directory structure has changed!@ 2:19:42 PM [Reasonable] but because you change directory structure, so, sync software failed, am I right/ 2:19:50 PM [Visitor] correct 2:19:58 PM [Reasonable] understood! 2:20:00 PM [Visitor] case2: 2:20:26 PM [Visitor] I copy a directory, and now I wan tot make sure all fiels are copies 2:20:38 PM [Visitor] in this case sycnh software woudl work 2:20:55 PM [Visitor] However, when I have 1 TB of data on 2 hard drives it is very slow 2:21:09 PM [Visitor] With Noclone, it takes 3 days! 2:21:31 PM [Visitor] I wonder if a quick chacksum woudl be faster than the vyte-by-byte 2:21:42 PM [Visitor] in this case....? 2:22:01 PM [Visitor] Becuase I know it is a copy, checksuum may be ok 2:22:25 PM [Visitor] I am onl;y looking for files that may not have been written properly 2:22:29 PM [Reasonable] so have you tried to use sync software to solve your case 2 problem? 2:22:34 PM [Visitor] yes 2:22:37 PM [Visitor] too slow 2:22:48 PM [Reasonable] ic 2:23:06 PM [Visitor] After 4 days of comparison, I gave up 2:23:16 PM [Visitor] Other dotware crashed before done 2:23:17 PM [Reasonable] so you can asking for a database to store the comparison result so that it saves time when compare next time 2:23:30 PM [Visitor] No that is scenario 3.... 2:23:32 PM [Reasonable] then NoClone is quicker! 2:24:11 PM [Visitor] When doing the comparsion, I woudl like the option of a simple checksum rather than byte-by-byte 2:24:22 PM [Visitor] this woudl speed up 2:24:37 PM [Visitor] I compare file name (size) and checksum 2:24:53 PM [Visitor] sometimes jsu name and size may be good enough 2:24:56 PM [Reasonable] ic 2:25:05 PM [Visitor] since I know it is a copy anyway 2:25:14 PM [Reasonable] NoClone support comparison of file name and size only 2:25:22 PM [Visitor] adding a checksum woudl just be a little better 2:25:39 PM [Reasonable] Understood 2:25:42 PM [Visitor] (but not as good as byte 2:26:02 PM [Visitor] However, speed is important in case of 2 TB of data (total) 2:26:12 PM [Reasonable] i c 2:26:26 PM [Visitor] When are you plaaaning the next beta? 2:26:39 PM [Reasonable] it maybe 1-2 months 2:26:47 PM [Visitor] Great. Please sign me up! 2:26:54 PM [Reasonable] thanks for your interest! 2:27:08 PM [Visitor] Will it be a major revision? 2:27:09 PM [Reasonable] is there anything I can help now? 2:27:13 PM [Reasonable] yes 2:27:29 PM [Visitor] GREAT. Loooking forward. Please E-mail me at the address above 2:27:35 PM [Reasonable] ok 2:27:42 PM [Reasonable] then, i have to go now 2:27:43 PM [Visitor] bye Alan (my name is Rolf) 2:27:54 PM [Reasonable] talk you soon, Rolf. 2:27:56 PM [Reasonable] bye