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Requesting new organization ideas for fresh windows installation

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nite_monkey:
So I plan on reinstalling windows this weekend, and I was wanting to find a new method of organizing my computer.

Currently~
I install everything in the default location.
I stick all my files on the desktop, my documents, or shared documents.
For my icons, I was putting them into organized folders in the start menu (games in a folder labeled games, tools in a folder labeled tools, etc), but then I got lazy, and just left them on the desktop, and never moved them.

what I plan to do~
I was thinking of putting everything into organized folders:
I would put all games in C:/games, all tools in C:/tools, etc.
not sure what to do about my icons.

I was hoping someone could give me some really cool ways to organize my new installation when I re-install windows this weekend.
If you know of any freeware organization programs, I would like that, the only way I would want shareware programs, is if the program was very good.
I was kind of thinking of putting Pstart on my computer, when I first install windows, and put a shortcut to all my programs in that as soon as I install them, but I would probably end up getting lazy, and stop doing that, just like with my icons.
Any help would be very appreciated, please and thank you. :Thmbsup:

mouser:
Definitely read this thread on how people organize their "My Documents" folder(s):
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=9647.0

tomos:
After a fresh install of XP,
I was a bit shocked how much *junk* MS had installed into the Program Files folder - it would have been really nice of them to simply have put all MS stuff in a microsoft folder...
I was tempted to install other programmes elsewhere but didnt bother in the end

I leave some icons on the desktop but mostly throw them into a shortcuts folder which FARR reads
So, I guess I'm probably not much help in terms of organising stuff  :P

And the start menu, well you might just inspire me to organise that !

nudone:
i'm hoping to reinstall xp soon - when i have the courage to face the length of time it will take to get everything 'just right'. i'm jotting down a few things on how i'll try and set everything up so that i don't forget when the time comes.

main concern is to provide easy backup/synchronisation and manageability of working files/folders. so without stating too much of the obvious (hopefully)...

1. keep program database and configuration files in one place so backup is easy - if an application doesn't really provide the option to save config files in a user specified location then ensure to point your backup software to the config location and make a note of it. i say to try and save all your config stuff in one place simply so that you know you've done it but if you are keeping a note of things then the single location idea is just a convenience.

as an example:
i use dialogmove, the settings remain in the folder i've installed dialogmove to - so i backup the entire dialogmove folder as it's simple to do. maxthon allows you to save 'groups' of links which i want to backup along with all my other maxthon settings - so i backup the entire maxthon folder (just to be sure i don't miss something). on the other hand, i have my 'Surfulator' knowledge bases saved in a folder with other program database information such as my ACDSee database. all the databases get backed up in one go and i know where they all are.

2. colour code folders to indicate their 'status'. i might need to copy loads of stuff to disk - i might not want to do it immediately and so after a while i'll forget what i've copied and what i haven't, i'll forget who i've copied it for and whether i've copied it myself. maybe i'll not have made up my mind on what to do with a set of files so i'll just leave them where they are and colour code the folder so that i'm instantly reminded of its 'status' when i see it - the same applies to the copying or not copying of things - colour marking the folder lets me know instantly whether it's safe to delete as i've done everything i need to do with it and, more importantly, i know if it's already saved to disk. colour code also indicates whether it's a 'video' or an 'audio' or a 'whatever' folder.

3. make a note of what you've got installed in your operating system backups. it's a good idea to make a backup of your system after a clean install and before you've tampered with it in any way. this way you can 'reinstall' windows in about 2-3 minutes if you find that you run into trouble when setting up your hardware/drivers (maybe that isn't so much of a problem nowadays?). after you've got your system set with the drivers and maybe a few basic small applications installed then do another backup - this will be your 'personal' first zero time backup to resort to if you decide to start from scratch again. keep these two initial backups safe and after that you can do your typical backup jobs - but it will be helpful to make a note of what software you've installed that each backup contains.

4. if you've got a particularly deranged machine as mine then you'll find it useful to keep a note of what you did when setting the machine and software up. you'll then, hopefully, be able to determine where any conflicts are coming from and how to reverse or appease them.

i'm sure there are more 'sensible' things to do - that's what comes to mind immediately.

jpcjpc:
Don't bother reorganising Program Files. Life's too short. Except for those programs that install themselves in their own folders on the root (OS excepted). Reorganise those using the uninstall option. They were obviously written by idiots  ;)

Have a folder on a different drive called StuffIveInstalled. Put your installer files in there. Rename them from grjdlstp.exe or whatever to the program name, and put the version number in the name too. If you got (say) an emailed registration code, save the email as an .eml and rar the whole lot up together (plus any saved configs, that kind of thing). You can also put info in properties, summary, simple view, comments to guide you on settings if you need to reinstall.

I also have a folder called YeOldeInstallers just in case an upgraded version sucks and I want to rewind  - TMPGenc DVD Author - that means you  :D

And I've another called TomorrowNeverComes for freeware stuff that I download but never get around to trying out - though getting into that one is an achievement; most don't even make it out of Downloads  :-[

From there on it depends on what you actually do with your PC - I have mine project based, with personal stuff completely separate, though I can never really get to grips with personalish work stuff, no matter how many shortcuts I drop into folders.

Whatever you do - make it easy to keep going. Or it wont. And yes, its do as I say, not as I do  :(

Oh, and take regular Ghost snapshots - easily worth the money, though if there was something just as good without those damn services muscling into autostart I'd dump it in a minute  :-\

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