diff -r for windows?

Question

To find differences in files between two directory structures I usually run

diff -r dir1/ dir2/

I'm burdened with Windows - is there any way to do this easily Windows or should I just get Cygwin?

Possible dup http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1011269/how-to-do-diff-r-of-unix-in-windows-cmd-prompt — Shmil The Cat, Apr 09 '13 at 20:13

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 09 '13 at 20:25

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I use a tool called FreeFileSync. As the name implies it's free :) It does a great job of visually comparing directories and does not move any files unless you tell it to sync.

It also has a portable version so you do not need to install it.

FreeFileSync

answered Apr 09 '13 at 20:25

Ben

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I ended up going for cygwin and the old fashioned diff -r but awareness for this tool should get more visibility - it is cool. – PinkElephantsOnParade Apr 15 '13 at 20:25

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 20:12

Beyond Compare does a pretty good job. It isn't free though (but it is nagware, if I recall).

You can use cygwin or mingw, but these are very slow compared to the unix variants, I believe due to the (possibly intentionally) crippled posix implementation on windows.

Stanley · Answer 3 · 2013-04-09T20:21:43.343

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if you have windiff you can try:

 windiff -T dir1 dir2

also, you can download the Gnu utils for windows to run to traditional Unix diff (with no Cygwin required)

http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/

edited Apr 09 '13 at 20:21

answered Apr 09 '13 at 20:14

Stanley

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diff -r for windows?

3 Answers3