Where do you suggest I store my files to ensure that I will not lose them?
File organization has always been an issue with computers since we have had the opportunity to save files and folders. In the early days the challenge was finding a floppy disk and then trying to figure out a name that fit with the old 8.3 technology. In those days the length of the file for folder name could not exceed 8 characters with 3 extension characters. So we had fun with file names like momletr.doc (mom’s letter). Today we have the ability for long file names in both file and folder names. So we at least can be a little more descriptive in our use of file names. So instead of the “momletr.doc” we opt for something like; "letter to mom on March 31st, proof that I do write her and do correspond"
Personally I like the ability to have longer file and folder names, however I am not always a fan of the where files are stored and saved.
With the emergence of Windows 2000 technology we have all learned about the new “Documents and Settings” folders and have found the “My Documents” folder buried under your profile name. Yes, I know that Microsoft instituted the ‘My Documents” long before Windows 2000. However it was in Windows 2000 that programs began to use this area as the default, and in this OS that the entire user’s profile was saved in one nice folder structure. For this I must applaud Microsoft. However, I have mixed feelings about this structure. Although I do like Microsoft’s attempt to help people with a little more organization, I think that this area is still flawed, and that the current technologies have yet to really address multiple computers and drives.
Whether you use the My Documents within your profile or not, is up to you. In a lot of ways I like it, the only thing that I really do not like about this folder is the overall location. If you have an issue with your operating system and have to rebuild your operating system, then you have an issue about losing your files. As for myself, I do not want to have to rebuild my operating system, but knowing that my files are safe on a different partition allows me to sleep at night. In a corporate environment the IT department usually changes your default file location to a server somewhere that is being backed up. So you click save and you are not saving that file to the local computer, you are saving the file to a server on the network.
At home however when you go to save your file, most often it is going to “My Documents” on the C: Drive or the root drive. I understand why from an Operating System standpoint. Microsoft will not assume that you have a different partition or a secondary drive available. Even though many systems are being shipped out today with just that scenario. Most major computer manufactures ship out a computer with a 120 or 200MB drive and they are learning to partition the drive. So your new computer has a C: drive of 20GB and a D: drive of 180GB for storage. The computer manufacture assumes that you will install all programs to the C: drive and put all files, multi-media, etc on the D: drive (most common drive letter)
So the big question is what to do? I suggest to everyone that if you have a secondary partition, to store your files on that drive/partition. This way if you need to restore your operating system from the original CD’s, you will not have to worry about losing your data. So how does one do this? I suggest first that you copy your “My Documents” folder and all sub-folders to the secondary partition/drive. From within Windows Explorer (fastest way to get there is to right click on the “Start” button and left click on “explore” This will launch Windows Explorer and should place you within your profile. Navigate to where you see ‘My Documents” and right click on the folder. Then left click on copy, and then go to the secondary drive/partition and navigate to where you want to place this folder. Right Click and then left click on “paste” This will move your files and all subfolders.
But you are not done yet. Most programs these days have an option where you can specify where you want to save your files. For Example in Word, you go to tools, then options, then file locations. From here you can now specify that new location where you moved your “My Documents” folder and from now on going forward your Word documents will automatically be saved to the new location and you too can sleep at night knowing your data is safe.
The final piece is determining a good subfolder for your documents so that you can group things together allowing you to find your documents faster and easier. I use to organize my documents via the type (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) Now I find that I organize my files into folders based on a project or topic level. So I have a folder called “Ask the Network Guy Blog Site” where I place all my documents that I post to the web site. This allows me to easily find a document and allows for faster search times within that folder.
A final note; I am a huge advocate of backing my information up. With the new DVD-RW drives that can spit out a DVD disk with over 4 Gigs of files. Please drop a DVD-RW or DVD-R disk into your computer and backup those files.
