Things You'll Need:
- Microsoft Windows
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Step 1
Use the Windows-created My Documents folder as the "root," or base level, folder for your documents, or create a new folder with a different name for the root file folder. (You can't change the name of the My Documents folder.)
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Step 2
Create folders within the My Documents folder for the various categories of documents you work on: for example, photographs, letters, databases, Web pages and so on.
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Step 3
Create subfolders within the category folders, going as many levels deep as you need. For example, in the Photographs folder, you might have a folder for each of your children, with subfolders for each year.
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Step 4
When you save documents, make sure to change the save location so they are filed in the appropriate folder.
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Step 5
Change your backup program to back up the My Documents folder and all its subfolders, rather than tracking down personal files all over your hard disk.
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Step 6
Make a directory on your root drive called Web Downloads for Internet downloading.
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Step 7
Change the default save location on your Web browser to Web Downloads.
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Step 8
Create subfolders under Web Downloads for the different files commonly downloaded, such as image files, shareware programs, sound files or upgrades.
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Step 9
This allows you to do fast checks with your anti-virus software on just one directory and easily back up downloaded files that you don't have a physical installation disk for.
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Step 10
Install new programs into the Program Files folder, automatically created by Windows when it's installed. (Windows will make that folder anyway, so you might as well use it.)
Comments
peanutlover said
on 6/15/2009 I use a special program to see what I actually have on my pc - before everything is organized;) PrintMaestro from CoolUtils can print the directory tree with all the contents. From the developer's site:
+ print the Folder Tree with size information
+ print list of films (with fields like size, Duration, Width, Height, Codec, Aspect Ratio)
+ print list of photos (with fields like Create date, Orientation, Exposure time, Width, Height and Thumbnail)
+print list of songs (you can use Artist, Title, Album, Comment, tags or BitRate, Sample Rate, Channels, Duration tags)
Diablo2 said
on 6/5/2009 Very informative article, 5 stars.
sixfooter said
on 6/28/2008 I recommend a software called RoboBasket.
This program can save a lot of time on file organizing. You can apply the tips mentioned in this article but without spending a lot of time. You can define your rules in the program like this " if the file's extension is doc move to the office documents folder" or " if the file's extension is jpg and file size is greater than 2MB move to the photo folder".
You can have a set of rules like this. and when you drag and drop your files into the program window, the program will find the matched rule and run the actions related to the rule.
check it out at
http://www.easy-to-use-software.com/html/robobasket-help-to-keep-clean-desktop
dmkirk said
on 3/4/2008 The problem with this method is that once you organize your computer, it is difficult to find the file that you’re looking for; it often takes several clicks to get to the file. You might want to take a look at a program called Direcscape that makes navigating to files easier. The program can be found on
www.extsoftware.com
dizid said
on 6/19/2007 good article. The given tip i don't agree with, it seems an awfull lot of work to keep such a file updated and to check it regularly. imo a program that needs updates will -most likely- have functionality for that.