How to Organize Files and Folders

Tip #1: Organize files for backup.

Organizing electronic files requires two things.

• You need to easily find what you need.
• Files need to be easy to back up arranged so that the backup is less expensive.

Less expensive?
What difference does organization make to that, you ask?

Think about it.

The less big and burdensome your data is to backup, the easier and less expensive it will tend to be. Less chance for errors. Less time that it takes. If you use online backup, less data is less expensive for all business-class backup services.

Here is the concept. We recommend the best practice of sorting your files into two groups: for static and dynamic files. (Details are farther down.)

Static files:
Files that no longer are changing. "Old" files.
These are easier to back up.

Dynamic files:
Files that still are changing.
These need to be backed up more carefully so that you have recent data, and if you get corrupted or virus-infected files, you can go back as many days as you need to get clean, usable files.

Archiving static files

Your set of static data is the big one, usually. This is the data that often creates huge backups that are either hard or expensive to do reliably for the small business. Since it is not changing, you can drag and drop the data onto an external hard disk and drop it in a safe deposit box and your are covered. You keep two copies: the copy on the drive in the safe deposit box, and the copy still on your computer.

Note about safe deposit box storage of data:

Save deposit boxes are a great deal if this system works for you. They offer a static-free, temperature controlled, fire proof, low humidity environment. Double bag the hard disk in airtight zip-lock bags and you have made it waterproof, too.

Backing up active data

The best practice for active data is to back it up every day, but also to get the data off site each day as well.

Backup is for those crazy emergencies when things just go wrong. Get it to another location so that if something happens where the computer is (fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, burglary, your child's experiment, etc.), the backup is not trashed at the same time.

Far and away, the easiest, most reliable, and least expensive way to do this is with online backup.

• It goes off every day (as long as the computer is running).
  
  
• The data is encrypted so it is secure.


• You can easily get back data from a particular day. That is a big help when you are testing files for which backup was the last one before the virus got in.


• Your files go to a safe location.
  (Just don't use Joe's Home Garage Offsite Backup Service. Use an established and legitimate service.)

Other options for daily backup:

Manual backup is an unreliable option.
It its an extra task that can be forgotten, and can become so time consuming and inconvenient that in the job gets postponed again and again.

Automated backup using software to store backups to tape drives or hard disks has problems as well. The wrong tape or hard drive connected, or just left in place past its time in the rotation, and the backups will fail.

Tapes are especially prone to trouble. Each tape should be tested to be sure it copied the data correctly, and they need to be well labeled and organized.

Here is the system to organize files we recommend:

Part One:
Create three folders to hold all your files

Create three master folders to hold all your data, numbered 1, 2, and 3 like in the graphic at the top right of this page..

Folder #1
(Perhaps call it "WIP" for "Work In Progress".)
Is for files that are active and can still change, even if it may not happen soon.

Folder #2
(Perhaps called "Complete" or "Completed Work".
Is for files that are no longer active. Perhaps for you this would be finished work files.

Folder #3
(Perhaps called "Archived")
is for files MOVED from folder #2 AFTER you have copied them to another storage place, like an external hard drive.

This way you always know what files have become static (Folder #2), and you can easily find them and copy them to the backup location. You don't spend lots of time sorting through files.

The same folders can exist in each master folder.

After you copy the contents of Folder #2 to the backup location, you move everything in it into Folder #3, and Folder #2 becomes empty.

You end up with two copies of your archive (static)data:

• One copy is in the Archived Work folder
• Another copy is on the external hard drive

Part Two:
Daily online backup for active files.

The active, dynamic files are all in the two folders "WIP" and "Completed Work". There is no old / static / archival data in them, because you have dragged and dropped such data into the "Archived Work" folder.

Now set your online backup service to backup and protect these two folders only, since your other data has been archived to an external hard disk. When the "Completed work" folder grows in size, connect the exterrnal drive and copy the data to it, also moving the entire contents of the "Completed Work" folder then to the "Archived work" folder.

The online backup service will give you a daily backup of your changing data to a secure and safe location off-premises.

The external disk and the computer each back each other up with identical copies of the rest of the data.

You do not need to ever adjust the folders that the online backup is set to protect, since the same folders always hold the correct data.

When files are organized like this, you usually find you have a very managable amount of data which can be easily handled by an online backup account.

Online backup is far and away the most reliable way to do this, and if you figure in the amount of time you will spend doing backup any other way, is a great savings at a reasonable price.

For guidelines in selecting an online backup service, see select an online backup service.

Comments on Setting up your Archive on External Disk

• Some companies use two external hard drives and rotate them, creating three hard drives for extra protection.
  
  
• For a storage location for the external drive or any storage media, we like to recommend a bank safe deposit box. It is a fireproof, static-free, air conditioned and temperature controlled place of safety. If you double bag things in zip-lock bags, you made them waterproof as well.

This system is especially useful to back up and organize graphics and other files that take up a lot of space. Organizing photos for a scrap book or album benefit as well.

If you need further help, check out this video on basics of how to organize files and folders.