As I mentioned earlier, one of my classic uses of Windiff is researching where in the registry Microsoft store particular settings. The screen shot is taken from a regedit export. Where there are differences, not only do you have the exceptions highlighted, but it gives you the line number. If the content is the same in both files it only has one entry, which you see in normal black text. The color coding extends into the margin so you can see which file corresponds to the yellow highlight and which to the red highlight. Moreover, for easy reading, it highlights each difference with a different color. Once called to action, Windiff homes in on every minute difference between the two files as you would want.

Down to Business – Windiff File Comparison (See screenshot opposite.)Īs ever, Microsoft provide two ways of doing everything, so you could click on the Expand Menu and then select, ‘Both files’. Once you have loaded the two files into Windows 7’s Windiff GUI, I expect you want Windiff to identify the differences. My salvation was reading the screen, Select First File, then Select Second File – it really is that easy to get started. I emphasise this because when I was a greenhorn, I thought either I was going mad, or Windiff had a bug.

Be alert for Windows 7 Windiff to ask you for the names of the two files in quick succession. Let us start with Windiff’s principal job, namely comparing files. When you launch Windiff, take careful note of a pair of almost identical menus. For example, I rarely use Windiff for copying files. While Windiff is straightforward to get working, nevertheless, it leaves me with a lingering feeling that I have never quite reach the bottom of its capabilities. The Windiff, which you get from a Microsoft Server support CD works perfectly in Windows 7.

Getting Started With Windiff in Windows 7 Windiff Compare – To Find Registry Settings.To get a copy of Microsoft’s Windiff, either extract it from your Windows Server Support folder, or else download a free copy at the bottom of this page. The benefit of Windiff comes from scenarios where you want to compare files, folders or registry settings. The words Windows and Difference lead us to the concept of to comparing files and highlighting and disparity. Microsoft Windiff Compare Folders and Files

Windows compare two directories