Cleaning Out Your Data in XP - Folders and Such
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With one hard drive, your best bet in terms of organizing data is the folder. You have an unlimited supply (which is always good) and you can keep stuff in them. The trick is to use them in a way that best reflects how you work.
For example, you can have one for each project you're working on or one for each application you use. You can even take multiple finished projects (like articles) and put them all in the same folder. If you're working on a really big project, like a novel, you might have one folder for the novel and folders within it for the chapters (with multiple versions of each chapter within each folder, to say nothing of any notes on the chapters). However you decide to work it out, the key thing is to group together the things that belong together, and separate the things that don't belong together from each other.
Anyway, the Root Directory is where you want to begin this folder making adventure. The root directory is the top of a drive's hierarchy (the root directory for the C: drive is C:). Only the most important folders should be in the root directory.
Go into Windows Explorer by right clicking the Start menu and selecting Explore. Then click on the C: drive (for example) in the left window and make sure only relevant folders are in there. Feel free to move, rename, or delete folders when appropriate. You can also create a new folder by right clicking any blank area in the right window and choosing New -> Folder.
Double clicking on any one folder will take you inside that folder and to the next level of the root directory hierarchy. Again, move files to where you think they belong in your systems hierarchy. All data is not equal in the world of XP.
Finally, no article about data organization would be complete without a helpful reminder to back up and archive. It's important to remember to back up all data you feel might be significant in the future. I mentioned this in my last article as a safety precaution, but it's always good to err on the side of caution, even if it does mean more work.
Basically, archiving is copying your data to some sort of storage medium (CD, DVD, Zip Disk, etc.) before you delete it. Backing up data is generally the same thing, except that backups are short term copies of data you still need on your system.
Until next time, remember: keep it clean!
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