Managing Files On The Pc

[Grover]

One thing that has eluded me is a good, simple but effective way of managing/organising files on the PC. Often for me the files end up a big mess, like a messy room and you look around and can't find what you are looking for.

So i'm hoping to get some tips and tricks from members who have their act together - some sort of an file organization/management process that I can try to implement to overcome some of my bad habits.

Here are some things ive been thinking about:

1,. where do you store incoming files (downloads, etc)

2. how do you process them ?

3. how and where do you store it (reference systems) and backups

4. retrieval, search tools etc

5. software tools,

etc.

Obviously things can get quite detailed, but some basic top-level ideas / paradigms /systems to start off with would be great.

[kayo]

Hello.

Created a "dowloaded programs" in my docs.

This is for installation packages I download.

If it's system or program software, I install it then in Program files.

For all else (files saved etc...) when rushing along,

I use my

"my docs/music" as a music Dump (temporary parking lot)

"my docs/Pictures" as a photo dump, etc, etc...

"my docs/tv.com" for all my tv.com photo's, funny pictures google earth Guess the Place/City etc

These I then regularly file on my external HD (#1) under the appropriate Folders I have-

All non program files are stored on this external hard drive (my daily workin hard drive)

(in no particular order)

1.Photo's/...

2.Music/Rap

/ Blues

/Rock... etc etc...

3.TV.com/Avatars

/Funny Pics

/GEarth

/Smilies

For all my private docs, got an

administration folder /contracts

/taxes (HAHAHAHAH! that's dusty)

etc...

For my work docs (i'm a writer) similar, per contract, or per book project, etc...

All of THAT is then regularly backed up on a second twin external drive. (my-Bible-never-touch hard drive)

That's the relatively simple description.

Works for me, but I ain't the best organiser.

[astral]

Firstly I used Partition Magic to divide my disk.

C: is OS only

D: is programmes (be sure to specify the drive each time you install a new programme

E: is personal data files, in suitably named folders.

F: is all my photos

I have a special folder called Download, for all the bits of sw I want to keep,

subdivided according to sw type Firewall, anti-virus etc

I never use the My documents.

Firstly it is on the C: drive and will be lost if I have to format and reload,

secondly it is an untidy concept to me. Like stuffing everything in one draw

and hoping to be able to find something later.

This is all on my notebook and I have a seperate usb disk to back it all up to.

DVD's of OS and downloada go with me when I am on the road so I can rebuild to a new disk

in the worst scenario.

[Simmo]

You can easily change the location of My Documents - just right click -> properties.

I take a different approach and pile everything into a few loosely categorised folders and then rely on Google Desktop Search to find what I'm after.

[Stekmer]

I never use the My documents.

Firstly it is on the C: drive and will be lost if I have to format and reload,

secondly it is an untidy concept to me. Like stuffing everything in one draw

and hoping to be able to find something later.

I partition my HDD into 2 and the have a second internal drive (Desktop PC) to backup a ghost image of C every now and then ....makes restores very simple.

C = Operating System and all Programs

D = My Documents - easy to do .... just right click the desktop shortcut for My Documents and select 'properties' You will then have the option of moving it to anywhere you want - even a whole HDD.

I find this makes it easy when saving files as My Documents seems to be the default location for everything. I use My Pics, My Music etc and create sub folders for specicif groups. Downloads go ito a folder called Downloads in My Documents.

[John_Betong]

A long time ago in the good old Dos days there was an excelent program that backed up only new and modifed files.

Eventually I came across a free equivalent by Microsoft would you believe! It is called SyncToy. Google for it and it is simple and effective in creating a mirror image of directories that change. Give it a try, highly receommended - if you cannot find it I will make it available online.

I have been struggling with computers since 1978. After losing operating systems, umpteen files, hard-drives, mostly due to hardware and upgrades I have adopted the scheme where anything personal is saved in a directory completely seperate from Windows Documents. All folders are prefixed with a small 'a' such as aText, aPhotos, aDownloads, etc and these items are at the top when I view with Explorer.

Photos are renamed immediately by their date using a program I wrote. The photos are then saved in a sub-directory of year and month such as 2002/0203_March2002. Originals are stored and only copies are modified. Useful for finding photos, just look for the year and approximate date.

Mail is a pain in the @$#$% and I have lost old emails and now use Google's Gmail - "You are currently using 835 MB (30%) of your 2805 MB." - as my personal dustbin. Any emails I want saving are sent to my Gmail account. Useful for finding original login details because of the excellent search facility.

After lengthy discussions a friend has written a very good free SkyHook program. Personal data is saved online and encrypted using a 256 key encryption routine. This is where I store all my bank logon details, etc. The idea of the SkyHook was to be mobile and to have secure access anywhere an internet connection was available.

If you want to really screw something up - use a computer!