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Is there a way (program?) that can let you safely merge two folders in Windows XP?
Obviously this can be done manually by opening the source and destination folders and moving everything, selecting No-to-All for any conflicts, then repeating with each and every subdirectory, however this can be incredibly tedious if there are more than a small handful of conflicts (besides, the whole point to computers/software is to automate simple, repetitive tasks).
In other words, I need in Windows XP, the folder-merge function that’s built into Explorer in Windows 7.
To properly reproduce Windows 7’s behavior (which is the right way), it has to meet a few basic requirements:
- Nothing should be copied, even temporarily, if source and destination are on the same drive
- No new folders should be created if source and destination are on the same drive
- No timestamps should be modified (other than for modified folders on NTFS volumes)
- No files or folders can be accidentally deleted (obviously)
- There should be some sort of undo function (third-party apps would have to handle it themeselves)
- It should be easy to use and automatic (i.e., not manually selecting the files to be merged)
- It should have Yes-to-All and No-to-All options (technically part of the previous point)
Again, the goal is to merge the folders like in Windows 7, not diff them, so before suggesting something like WinMerge, remember what moving a folder in Windows 7 is like.
Figure 1: In Windows 7, moving a folder that already exists allows you to skip existing files but process the rest
Figure 2: In Windows XP, moving a folder that already exists either overwrites all existing files or skips the whole folder altogether
(I just did a fresh search and all of the first dozen or so results are purple because I have already seen them.) ⊙︿⊙
ClassicShell adds a conflict dialog. But I don't use XP any longer so I don't know if it works there. – magicandre1981 – 2013-08-05T19:19:30.230
1@magicandre1981, no ClassicShell only supports Vista+. – Synetech – 2013-08-05T19:35:55.940