How to Organize Data on an External Disk

External drives provide an excellent way to save valuable data and secure it for future use. They come in a variety of sizes, ranging from 512MB thumb drives to massive 2TB hard drives, allowing you to find the size that's just right for your storage needs. Once you transfer your data to the new drive, you'll need to organize it.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Create folders for different file types. For example, use the Windows "My Documents" format and create separate folders for documents, music, pictures and video files.

2. Organize school documents by subject, semester, class or instructor. Make separate folders for each class, then transfer your files from your computer to the drive appropriately.

3. Put all of your most valuable files into one folder. You'll be able to find them faster next time you need them.

4. Compress large media files you're not going to use in ZIP or RAR formats. These save space on your drive and you can decompress them anytime to access their contents.

5. Decide how you want the drive to display the file icons. Common options are organizing them name, date and file type. Arranging them by file type also organizes them by name.

6. Make sub-folders in the main folders to further organize your files. For example, organize the files in your "Music" directory by genre, period or style.

7. Copy your most critical files and save them to multiple directories on both drives. This maximizes the chance of recovering them in the event of drive failure.

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