Sanjay Patel asks:
I have been very lazy and stuff just piled up in different external hard drives I have and also on a laptop. I would like to organize them now, but when I started I faced problems with lots of duplicate files with different names, stuff that I do not need and stuff I don’t know where to keep.
Can you please give me suggestion How should I organize/label/use different hard drives for personal use?
Thanks!
Browser: Firefox 18
System: Windows
Tagged: external hard drive, laptop, organize files, windows tips
System: Windows
Tagged: external hard drive, laptop, organize files, windows tips
9 Answers - Write an Answer
Ramandeep Singh
February 22, 2013These articles should help you:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/creating-order-chaos-9-great-ideas-managing-computer-files/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-hard-drive-space-by-finding-and-removing-duplicate-files/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/delete-duplicate-files-quickly-with-these-tools/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/organize-computer-files-flash-dropit-windows/
And some of similar questions:
How can I organize my files and remove duplicates?
http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/organize-files-remove-duplicates/
How can I easily organize all the files on my PC?
http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/easily-organize-files-pc/
Thank You.. i will go through these article.. i am sure this will help..
February 22, 2013Ramandeep Singh
February 22, 2013“Please wait a while before posting your next comment” Okay I waited 5 minutes but nothing happened. So second time:
These articles should help you:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/creating-order-chaos-9-great-ideas-managing-computer-files/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-hard-drive-space-by-finding-and-removing-duplicate-files/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/delete-duplicate-files-quickly-with-these-tools/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/organize-computer-files-flash-dropit-windows/
And some of similar questions:
How can I organize my files and remove duplicates?
http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/organize-files-remove-duplicates/
How can I easily organize all the files on my PC?
http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/easily-organize-files-pc/
When you see “Please wait a while before posting your next comment” try refreshing your page and your comment should appear.
February 22, 2013No. It not appear. As I said I waited for atleast 5 minutes. Refreshing used to work on previous comment system but on this it seems late.
February 22, 2013It has appeared now. Seems like the current system need about 5-10 minutes before showing the comment.
February 22, 2013Imesh Chandrasiri
February 22, 2013Use a duplicate file finder and delete the duplicate files from all of your devices. then divide the files into categories such as entertainment, work, documents etc…
Alan Wade
February 22, 2013Partition a clean hard drive with meanigful Labels like:
Holidays
Photos
Pictures (Yes, there is a difference).
Office Files
Personal Files
Games
Movies
Excel Files
Excetera, excetera
Copy the files into the correct catagories, deleting them from the other hard drive as you go.
From there you can then decide what is worth keeping and what isnt.
There is no quick solution to this, you just have to be patient and go at it when you can.
I had much the same problem although it was only one hard drive to contend with and it took a little time but something you have to dedicate yourself to.
“There is no quick solution to this”
February 22, 2013May be there is by using some tools recommended on MUO. Though I myself never used them. I never required.
Nevzat Akkaya
February 22, 2013Same for me. I have some gigabyte-sized folders for my stuff. Eventually I bought more than one Terabyte sized hard disk, copied all my files onto it and started categorization, removed duplicates and very old files from it. I also have secondary big hard disk as a backup. Regarding the other smaller hard disks, I’ve labeled them according to my needs and use them for it’s specific job. For example, I have one external HD for Pictures, one for Linux ISO’s, one for portable apps and so on… Just don’t forget to spare some for your current computer’s backups and complete images.
ha14
February 22, 2013File organization tips: 9 ideas for managing files and folders
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/productivity/files.aspx#fbid=ALMhnY04vCM
stuff you do not know where to keep try in a folder Miscellaneous.
Tabbles
http://tabbles.net/
Syed Hamjath
February 22, 2013What operating system you have?
If Win 7.
Then Create Libraries to manage you stuff, Its pretty easy when any other idea.
FYI .,
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows7/products/features/libraries
Lisa Santika Onggrid
February 22, 2013I faced similar situation before. First, set aside some time to actually make the first step before you amass more data. Break the process into chunks. Mine went approximately like this:
Scan the drive for duplicates->delete
Scan the drives for old data I don’t use anymore->delete
Scan the drive for unneeded archives->delete
Once you delete everything unnecessary, move the remaining data to one central place (if you can) and sketch how you want to organize them. One example would be assigning each hard drive with one kind of data like Video, Photo, Document, etc. Do it one hard drive per session to avoid frustration or boredom.
Last, quickly classify your data once you create/receive it so it won’t be a burden in the future. Routinely scan your drive for duplicates and unneeded data. There are many small, portable tools that could assist you with this process. You can even automate the process with Windows Scheduler and softwares like Belvedere.
If you need recommendation to particular piece of software feel free to say so and I’ll try to help you. The reason I don’t list them is because there are so many alternatives that might be daunting.
February 22, 2013Personally I think you need to cover these categories:
File visualizer (to see what kind of files occupy your disk space)
Deduplicator (scanning and removing duplicates)
Automator
The rest is optional.
Thank You all for these valuable tips. I hope I can try this over this weekend. I think you are so right Lisa Santika Onggrid, I just need to start the whole process and take 1st step.
February 23, 2013Thanks Syed Hamjath, for my computer I will make new libraries.
I also like the idea by Alan Wade, I will try to partition and label all the hard drive.
Thanks for providing all the links Ramandeep Singh.
Thank you all.
Schvenn Meister
February 25, 2013IYF (Index Your Files) is a great free program and super fast!