file organization scheme

[zombine210]

what's yours?

i have all my files from different backup points all over two or three drives. i need to condense into folders.

do you separate a .txt files from .pdf or do you sort by subject, etc.?

just trying to gather some ideas here to get organized.

 

[Nanobyte]

I do it by subject. My folders are already organized that way. I make an exception of general pdf files which go in their own folder. They're mostly manuals and guides so I always know where to find them.

If you don't have a plan in place already, it's a sign you have stuff all over the place on your PC. It's not difficult; personal, education, business, finance, music, movies, photos, hobbies, games, internet, web stuff, software (downloaded), computer etc

I backup to dvd in addition to external HDD and catalog every dvd so I can do a text search if I'm looking for something. You can do same if you backup to HDD. Movies I catalog on an Excel spreadsheet as I get them.

 

[zombine210]

it's worse than i thought.
had my ISO folder in three locations each with about 30 ~ 40 GB of stuff. along with other stuff as well.

also, i'm throwing away most installer programs like adobe reader (10 versions) and all antivirus installers since i can download new versions when needed.
i also have some really old stuff like DVD2AVI converter from 2002 LOL!

this will take a while.

 

[Nanobyte]

Sounds messy. I realized as soon as I started working with a PC that organization was essential. I also have good naming schemes. Backing up and retrieving is quite simple.

I archive all my shareware as I go. You never know when you want to go back a couple of versions from the now-crappy application!

Edit: Given the magnitude of your mess, whatever scheme you decide, make sure the backup is text string searchable. Avoid proprietary compression formats. Your only chance of finding something may be via that search.

 

[Rit]

I have a slave hard drive and an external hard drive that backs up my system restore and my slave hard drive. And my folder organization is very specific such as...

Main Folder - SCSU (My College)
Sub Folder - Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011. etc....
And then in each semester I have the classes I took

Main Folder - Music
Sub Folder - Band Name
Sub Folder - CD
Then the songs of each CD

Ya it takes a little longer getting to files being that specific, but I know where EVERYTHING is.

 

[zombine210]

Sounds messy. I realized as soon as I started working with a PC that organization was essential. I also have good naming schemes. Backing up and retrieving is quite simple.

I archive all my shareware as I go. You never know when you want to go back a couple of versions from the now-crappy application!

Edit: Given the magnitude of your mess, whatever scheme you decide, make sure the backup is text string searchable. Avoid proprietary compression formats. Your only chance of finding something may be via that search.

yeah, i had about 9 folders with similar stuff named something like School, shool_files and skool.
lol

I have a slave hard drive and an external hard drive that backs up
my system restore and my slave hard drive. And my folder organization is very specific such as...

Main Folder - SCSU (My College)
Sub Folder - Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011. etc....
And then in each semester I have the classes I took

Main Folder - Music
Sub Folder - Band Name
Sub Folder - CD
Then the songs of each CD

Ya it takes a little longer getting to files being that specific, but I know where EVERYTHING is.

yeah, i'm doing something like this now. a while back i threw all .txt files in one folder and all .doc .pdf .xls in their folders.
now i have to categorize them by subject. what a pain.

 

[Rit]

Ya it is a pain, but for like school projects, I know all the files I need are in one folder, and if I need to submit them online or throw them on a flashdrive, I just go to one folder instead of a .doc then a .ppt then a .cad, etc...