DrinkCompare

DrinkCompare 2.1

DrinkCompare is a free program which allows you to compare two or more files eachother, or files from two entire directories including all their subdirectories. It's intended for people who make CDs or backup copies and want to test the correctness of a copy in comparison with original. It can also be used to test the correct working of a media, by comparing a directory with itself.
The comparison is done reading entirely the contents of all files, and the response for every couple of files can be: "equal", "different contents", "not found in 2nd directory", "1st file appears truncated", "2nd file appears truncated". It's also possible to choose a fast comparison mode in which only files sizes are compared, and in that case response will be only "equal (maybe...)" or "different size".
Program interface is simple and friendly, all buttons provide hints when mouse comes over them, and some yellow-highlighted labels indicate steps to do or the actual status of an operation. Comparison results are shown in a report window where text can be printed, saved (in text format or HTML with appropriate formattation) or viewed in HTML format on the fly.
A set of additional options, all in the main window, some of which visible or not according to the context, allows you to execute comparisons with extreme flexibility.
Version 2.0 come from a long period of personal use of the program, from which the author was able to refine it and clear all emerged bugs.
Other features: no special requirements for memory or CPU; background comparison allowing concurrent execution of other programs; memorization of windows position and size and other parameters; multilanguage; prevention of false differences happening sometimes when comparing directories on medias with different speeds (like hard disks and CDs);