Quick comparison of folders - only bool as a result

Question

I have 2 folders with files on Windows:

• Local folder e.g C:\MyFolder
• Network folder e.g. \server\MyFolder

I need to check whether \server\MyFolder has got any updates in compare to my local one (e.g. updated file etc.). I only need to know if there is any update in the network folder, I don't need to know what are the differences.

I tried implementing MD5 check sums on the folders, but this solution is too slow. Creating MD5 checksum on the network folder is just too slow (in my case 3-4 minutes, but I need this comparison to be made in max. few seconds) [we are talking about folders with few hundred files, and few hundred MB in size]

I tried implementing some basic rules (e.g. if number of files differs, names are different then it is a quick response), but in most of the cases number of files remain the same, and the only change is in the content of the file, so as long as the first files changes then it is quick response, but in the worst case scenario (or in the scenario that folders are the same) I end up iterating through all files, which is very slow (few minutes).

What other approaches could I try ?

(Note, that network drive is read only to me, so I can't store any information, checksums in the folder whenever it changes).

Answer 1

Here's a solution : You loop your folder's file and everytime check this variable. var lastModified = System.IO.File.GetLastWriteTime("Server/Folder"); if lastModified > the time of your code execution recurrence. then you should return the true or false