# Files, organizing, then finding



## Gary O' (Feb 17, 2018)

I used to think I was pretty good at organizing things
But
Documents , on line, are taking a large portion of whatever time I have left to find.
Tried files
Too many
To freaking many
Anybody got any tricks I could use?
If so, I’ll prolly not get to it right away, but will put it in my ‘things to do’ file


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## Gary O' (Feb 18, 2018)

OK, one at a time please

no need to reply all at once

......izzat crickets I hear?


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## TonyK (Feb 18, 2018)

Might be busy organizing their thoughts?

It's not clear to me what you have now and where the problem is.


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## SeaBreeze (Feb 18, 2018)

We have a file cabinet with various files for personal, medical, financial, receipts, manuals, etc.  Our cat often helps us locate the files when needed.


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## AZ Jim (Feb 18, 2018)

Gary,  I have simplified my system.  I have one folder marked " Misc" and I file everything in it.


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## Smiling Jane (Feb 18, 2018)

I've been able to cut back on paper files by scanning everything into libraries, which are backed up to an external hard storage drive, DVDs and the cloud. It took me a while to get the libraries arranged so they worked well, but I didn't have a willing and helpful cat so I was on my own. Now it takes little effort to keep up to date.

I like the idea of a Gambrian waifs file. I don't have one of those.


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## Gary O' (Feb 18, 2018)

TonyK said:


> It's not clear to me what you have now and where the problem is.



First of all, let me say, you guys all think yer pretty funny

and ya are

But
I should have been more clear

Hard copies;
Got that covered
stacked file cabs
meticulously sorted

Computer storage;
not so much
I have files galore
the cloud
zip drive
on my desktop
some ancient ones tucked deep...somewhere

It's just taking me forever to find something, something like a pic I saved...somewhere

I used to have a secretary....


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## Shalimar (Feb 18, 2018)

Gary O' said:


> First of all, let me say, you guys all think yer pretty funny
> 
> and ya are
> 
> ...



My brain is going, I thought you said flies. A bit OCD, I thought.


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## Falcon (Feb 18, 2018)

Flies  are the front openings in a pair of mens'  trousers.


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## SifuPhil (Feb 18, 2018)

Shalimar said:


> My brain is going, I thought you said flies. A bit OCD, I thought.



And dyslexic on your part, to boot.

Sorry I can't help you with this one, Gary. 

I have bookmarks on Firefox.

Many bookmarks. Lots of bookmarks. Probably too _many_ bookmarks.

And I have folders, At least, for the important things like *Pizza*, *Bacon Cheeseburgers* and *Taoist ****** Practices*.

But I also have hundreds of _un_organized bookmarks, just lurking in the list, laughing at me when I try to find one. 

At least once a day I vow to organize them. At least once a day I lie to myself.


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## Shalimar (Feb 18, 2018)

Falcon said:


> Flies  are the front openings in a pair of mens'  trousers.


Loll.


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## Gary O' (Feb 18, 2018)

SifuPhil said:


> But I also have hundreds of _un_organized bookmarks, just lurking in the list, laughing at me when I try to find one.
> 
> At least once a day I vow to organize them. At least once a day I lie to myself.



You,sir

are me


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## SifuPhil (Feb 18, 2018)

Gary O' said:


> You,sir
> 
> are me



That's a compliment.

I'm also working on what is called "siloing" my websites. It's basically just a neat way of organizing content into ways that are easy for both people and search robots to digest.

You'd think I'd apply those principles to the rest of my life, but no - I still have to excavate every once in a while to find the cat.


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## Smiling Jane (Feb 18, 2018)

Shalimar said:


> Loll.



You laugh until those flies draw flies.


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## Shalimar (Feb 18, 2018)

Smiling Jane said:


> You laugh until those flies draw flies.


Eek!


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## Gary O' (Feb 18, 2018)

SifuPhil said:


> I'm also working on what is called "siloing" my websites. It's basically just a neat way of organizing content into ways that are easy for both people and search robots to digest.



'siloing'

I must research this silo thing


and get a cat


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## SifuPhil (Feb 18, 2018)

Gary O' said:


> 'siloing'
> 
> I must research this silo thing
> 
> ...



Cats are necessary for the silo process.

At least, that's what Mao tells me. 

Here's what a silo looks like:



And here's what a website silo looks like:


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## Gary O' (Feb 18, 2018)

SifuPhil said:


> And here's what a website silo looks like:
> 
> View attachment 48767



Rethinking;

I'm either just lazy, or have chosen to be outside rather than hang around the PC

I think lazy

otherwise

I'd be sorting/organizing right now

Still, gonna get a cat


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## Leonie (Feb 18, 2018)

When we got our first computer I opened a file called "Where did I put things?".  It was a brilliant idea, you know - a place for everything and everything in its place sort of thing, all recorded in that little file.  I bet you can guess how that worked out.

Yep, I lost the file.


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## SifuPhil (Feb 19, 2018)

Gary O' said:


> Rethinking;
> 
> I'm either just lazy, or have chosen to be outside rather than hang around the PC
> 
> I think lazy



If my place looked more like yours I'd be outside more too.



> Still, gonna get a cat



YAY!


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## WhatInThe (Feb 19, 2018)

I see alot of pile people. They know what pile to look for something. Piles don't work. The most common mistake myself and others seem to make is not leaving space for new stuff. Without a place to put something a pile starts forming. Stuff must be accessible. If it's a lot of work to put away or pull out people being lazy won't use that system.


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## NancyNGA (Feb 19, 2018)

Piles work as long as you never have to move the pile.  You judge the date with a ruler---The older the stuff, the deeper in the pile you go.  :joke:


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## HipGnosis (Feb 19, 2018)

I mainly uses my computer for document compiling and storage.  I use to have a very hard time finding things.  I no long have a problem since I found a program called 'Agent Ransack'.  It is free but really awesome (even though the name is kinda goofy)!
I've been using it for years and a current version is available; http://download.cnet.com/Agent-Ransack/3000-2072_4-10043846.html 
It searches files on any drive windows can see.  It can search everything or just a (sub)folder, and any level between.   
The search criteria can be a few letters to really complex things (I only use a portion of what it will do).
You can sort the results by; file name, path/folder or date.
Try it.  I bet you like it.   I don't want to even think about computing w/o it.
HipG


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## Gary O' (Feb 19, 2018)

HipGnosis said:


> I mainly uses my computer for document compiling and storage.  I use to have a very hard time finding things.  I no long have a problem since I found a program called 'Agent Ransack'.  It is free but really awesome (even though the name is kinda goofy)!
> I've been using it for years and a current version is available; http://download.cnet.com/Agent-Ransack/3000-2072_4-10043846.html
> It searches files on any drive windows can see.  It can search everything or just a (sub)folder, and any level between.
> The search criteria can be a few letters to really complex things (I only use a portion of what it will do).
> ...




THAT'S!!! what I been looking for

thank you, Hip


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## HipGnosis (Feb 19, 2018)

Glad to help!

HipG


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## Wandrin (Apr 23, 2018)

Our goal is to get rid of most of the paper files and put the important stuff into a computer folder structure with it's own virtual disk volume.  That way we can compress it and encrypt it and write it to memory sticks for backup when traveling and for general safety.

Getting rid of the paper is hard.


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## Meanderer (Apr 23, 2018)

Congratulations.....


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## Wandrin (Apr 24, 2018)

One of the things I really like about having files on the computer instead of file cabinets is the ability to search without much effort.  It is also handy to be able to show a folder's contents sorted by date, so I can throw out files I don't need anymore, like tax related stuff after 7 years.

The other day, I needed to look up when the first time a doctor diagnosed my arthritis.  It was very easy and quick.


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## Meanderer (Apr 24, 2018)




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