Resolved How to decide which duplicate files to remove?

I was recommended to use a program called WinUtilities Free Edtion by a magazine to which I subscribe. Their tips are usually very good, but how to proceed with this problem has me confused.

One of the utilities in the program is a duplicate file finder. I ran this, mainly out of interest, expecting to find a list of duplicate documents, photos, etc that I have stored in more than directory.

I nearly fell off my chair when the program found more than 7000 files and listed them (I presume all of them). I took a quick look and found that many of the files were .png, .rtf, .tiff, .wmv, and according to the search criteria are all the same, content, size, creation date and last write date.

My problem is multifold: a) do I delete any of them, b) if so, which ones, c) let the program decide or d) delete them all?

There seem to be both system32 and SysWOW64 entries for most of the files. The laptop was only loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. I can imagine that there may be a need for 32 and 64 bit versions of the same file, but why the version stored in C:\\..winsxs\wow64_microsoft-windowsp..//.......

I have also run Disk Cleanup, CCleaner, AdwClwaner and Junk Removal Tool so assume that these files are all needed. Can anyone confirm what my next course of action should be? Thanks in advance.

 

This is just my opinion, but unless you made the duplicate files yourself, I would not delete any of them that were missed by the cleaning tools you used.

I ran a duplicate file finder on my machine, and it located over 27,000 duplicate files.

 

Thank you James and Christer for confirming my own opinion. I was interested as I only have an 80GB SSD in my laptop and thought I could free up some space. I will limit the search to the directories you suggested, Christer, and work on the results.

Thanks again for your inputs.

 

You're welcome, Arthur.