How to use the Windiff.exe Utility

This article describes how to use the Windiff.exe utility, a tool that graphically compares the contents of two ASCII files, or the contents of two folders that contain ASCII files, to verify whether they are the same. The file byte count and the creation date are not reliable indications.

Original product version: В Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10 — all editions
Original KB number: В 159214

Summary

Sometimes you may experience unusual program behavior and may suspect that a file is damaged, or you may suspect that two files have the same byte count but different dates. Therefore, you want to make sure that they are the same. If a file is suspect, the typical solution is to recopy from a known good file. This solution may solve the problem, but it prevents you from knowing whether the original file was damaged. It can be important to determine this, as file damage can indicate an underlying network or system problem.

More Information

In Microsoft Windows 2000 and later, Windiff.exe is included on the original CD-ROM in the Support\Tools folder. To install the support tools, run Setup.exe from the Support\Tools folder. Windiff.exe is also in the Support.cab file. Support.cab is included with every service pack.

In Microsoft Windows NT, Windiff.exe is included in the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit. To download the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit Support Tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
MS Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit Support Tools

The Windiff.exe utility graphically illustrates the differences between ASCII text files that you specify, or the difference between folders that contain ASCII text files, and is especially useful for comparing program source code. You can use Windiff.exe to compare whole subfolder trees. The display shows either a summary of the comparison status of a list of files (outline mode) or a detailed line-by-line comparison of the files (expanded mode).

To compare two files by using Windiff.exe, follow these steps:

On the File menu, click Compare Files.

In the Select First File dialog box, locate and then click a file name for the first file in the comparison, and then click Open.

In the Select Second File dialog box, locate and then click a file name for the second file in the comparison, and then click Open.

The information in the right pane indicates whether there is a file difference.

To view the actual file differences, click the first line in the Windiff.exe output results, and then on the Expand menu, click Left File Only, Right File Only, or Both Files.

The color-coded results indicate what the file differences are.

To compare two folders by using Windiff.exe, follow these steps:

On the File menu, click Compare Directories.

In the Select Directories dialog box, type the two folder names that you want to compare in the Dir1 and Dir2 boxes. If you want to include subfolders, click to select the Include subdirectories check box.

The information in the right pane indicates the differences between the two folders.

To view the actual file differences, click the line that you want in the Windiff.exe output results, and then on the Expand menu, click Left File Only, Right File Only, or Both Files.

The color-coded results indicate what the file differences are.

You can also run Windiff.exe from the command line. For information about how to do so, or for more information about how to use Windiff.exe, see the Windiff.exe Help file (Windiff.hlp).

There are other utilities that are available besides Windiff.exe that you can use to compare local ASCII and binary files, or to compare a local file to a questionable file at a remote site.

To compare two files or groups of files at a local site, you can use the Fc.exe and the Comp.exe file compare commands. Both commands are run from a command prompt.

You can use Fc.exe to compare two ASCII or binary files on a line-by-line basis. It offers several command-line options. For example, use the fc /b command to compare two binary files. For a complete list of options, type fc /? at a command prompt.

You can use Comp.exe to compare ASCII and binary files and to compare groups of files in two different folders. For example, to compare all the .dll files in one folder to all the .dll files in the same folder on a different computer, type the following at a command prompt:

To compare a local file to a remote file, you can use a utility such as the third-party compression utility Pkzip.exe. To do so, use Pkzip.exe to zip the file at both the local and the remote sites. Because zipping a large file can take time, it is faster to use the pkzip -e0 (no compression) option. After you have zipped the files, use the pkzip -v command to examine the cyclic redundancy check (CRC32) value for the .zip files. If the CRC32 values are the same for the remote and local sites, the files are the same.

If you use Pkzip.exe to zip a file before you send the file to a remote site, because of the embedded CRC32, you will receive an error message during the unzip process if the file is damaged in transit. If you receive no error message, the file was conveyed without damage.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

Does windiff exec available in windows 10 64 bit?

*Original Title: windiff exe

Does windiff exec available in windows 10 64 bit? If not, what can I use to compare files and or folders?

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

How to Compare folders.

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• It works in Windows 10 but you might find problems from time to time.
• Whichever source you get it from, it is a very old tool that is no longer developed or supported.
• I have no idea if the 2003 & 2005 versions differ.
• Its Help is a link to the old .hlp Help format. You could try searching the forum for guidance on installing a viewer for that format but I think these explanations cover everything that matters
  • How to Use the Windiff.exe Utility KB159214
  • How to Use WinDiff to Compare Registry Files KB171780
  • Overview WinDiff — MSDN developers’ forum

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WinMerge

You will see the difference…

Что такое WinMerge?

WinMerge является Open Source инструментом сравнения и слияния для Windows. WinMerge может сравнивать как файлы, так и папки, отображая различия в визуальной текстовой форме, которые легко понять и обработать.

Скриншот

Смотрите страницу скриншотов чтоб увидеть больше.

Особенности (фичи)

WinMerge является весьма полезной для определения мест, которые изменились между версиями проекта, а затем она позволяет объединять изменения между версиями. WinMerge можно использовать в качестве внешнего инструмента определения разностей/слияния, или как автономное приложение.

В дополнение, WinMerge имеет множество вспомогательных возможностей, которые делают процесс сравнения, синхронизации и слития настолько простым, насколько это возможно:

Общее

• Supports Microsoft Windows XP SP3 or newer
• Обработка текстовых форматов файлов Windows, Unix и Mac
• Поддержка Unicode
• Интерфейс с закладками

Сравнение файлов

• 3-way File Comparison New!
• Визуальная подсветка изменений и слияния текстовых файлов
• Удобный редкатор с подсветкой синтаксима, нумерацией строк и переносом строк
• Подсветка изменений внутри строки
• Панель различий показывает различия текущего файла в двух вертикальных панелях
• Панель расположения отображает карту сравниваемых файлов
• Обнаружение перемещенных строк

Сравнение содержимого каталогов

• Фильтрация файлов, основанная на регулярных выражениях, позволяет включать и исключать элементы из выборки
• Быстрое сравнение, учитывающее размеры файлов и даты
• Сравнение одного каталога, или сравнение включая подкаталоги
• Может отображать результат сравнения папок в виде дерева
• 3-way Folder Comparison

Image Compare New!

• Support many types of images
• Can highlight the differences with blocks
• Overlaying of the pictures is possible

Table Compare New!

• Shows CSV/TSV file contents in table format
• Text can be wrapped for each column

Управление версиями

• Создает файлы патчей (Normal-, Context- и Unified форматы)
• Разрешить конфликты файлов

Другое

• Интеграция с контекстным меню (поддерживает 64-битные версии Windows)
• Поддержка архивов осуществляется с помощью 7-Zip
• Поддержка плагинов.
• Локализуемый интерфейс
• Онлайн-руководство и установленное HTML-руководство

WinMerge 2.16.10 — последняя стабильная версия

WinMerge 2.16.10 является самой последней стабильной версией, рекомендуемой для большинства пользователей.

Новости проекта

• WinMerge 2.16.4 (stable) released2019-08-02
• WinMerge 2.16.2 (stable) released2019-04-04
• WinMerge 2.16.0 (stable) released2018-11-27
• A sign of life from WinMerge2018-01-29
• WinMerge 2.14.0 (stable) released2013-02-03
• Смотреть все новости…

Поддержка

Если нужна поддержка, смотрите страницу поддержки для большего количества информации о том, как ее получить.

Разработчики

WinMerge является проектом с открытым исходным кодом, а значит поддерживается и разрабатывается волонтерами.

В дополнении ко всему, WinMerge переведен на множество различных языков. Смотрите нашу информацию о переводах WinMerge по вашему языку.

WinDiff

Download WinDiff:

Notes about this download:

Tested to be virus-free [Tested with 27 programs] No installers or download managers Download link works [Code: 200] Hosted in the United States

All files are in their original form. LO4D.com does not modify or wrap any file with download managers, custom installers or third party adware.

This download is distributed as a ZIP archive (WinDiff.zip) and requires decompression with a competent program.

About WinDiff

WinDiff 5.1 is a small and lightweight freeware program which provides a quick and easy way to identify duplicate files and folders while highlighting the differences between the items. The application is indeed a GUI front-end to the WinDiff tool which probably takes a lot of its functionality from the Linux program Diff. The program is unfortunately not very user-friendly so it’s mainly suited towards more advanced users. This download is licensed as freeware for the Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) operating system/platform without restrictions. WinDiff is available to all software users as a free download for Windows.

Is WinDiff safe to download?

We tested the file WinDiff.zip with 27 antivirus programs and it turned out 100% clean. It’s good practice to test any downloads from the Internet with trustworthy antivirus software.

Does WinDiff work on my version of Windows?

Older versions of Windows often have trouble running modern software and thus WinDiff may run into errors if you’re running something like Windows XP. Conversely, much older software that hasn’t been updated in years may run into errors while running on newer operating systems like Windows 10. You can always try running older programs in compatibility mode.

Officially supported operating systems include Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

What versions of WinDiff are available?

The current version of WinDiff is 5.1 and is the latest version since we last checked. This is the full offline installer setup file for PC. At the moment, only the latest version is available.

Команда WINDIFF — сравнение файлов.

Утилита WINDIFF.EXE не входит в стандартный дистрибутив Windows и может быть установлена в составе пакетов Windows SDK Tools. В отличие от стандартной утилиты FC.EXE, она обладает большими возможностями и графическим интерфейсом пользователя.

Формат командной строки:

windiff [path1] [path2]

Параметры командной строки:

path — пути и имена отдельных файлов или каталогов для сравнения.

Если один из параметров path не указан, то будет использован текущий каталог или файл в текущем каталоге.

Если ни один из параметров командной строки не задан, то используется графический интерфейс пользователя и управление программой осуществляется через соответствующие пункты меню. Имеется возможность сравнения файлов реестра, экспортированных из редактора Regedit.

windiff.exe D:\far1.reg D:\far2.reg — сравнить содержимое двух .reg-файлов.

Результат сравнения отображается в окне программы:

Если файлы не совпали, детализацию можно получить при нажатии на кнопку Expand в правой верхней части окна:

В программе используется фоновая раскраска результатов сравнения:

Белый фон – содержимое обоих файлов совпадает.

Красный фон – содержимое файла, обозначенного в левой части (reg1.reg).

Желтый фон — содержимое файла, обозначенного в правой части (file2.reg).

Чтобы не качать весь пакет SDK можете загрузить архив windiff.zip размером 75кб.

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