Win7 Users - How do you have your files organized?

[fubak]

I have never used My Documents like I should, but now I've got so many files that I need to start using it. How do you have your pics, program install EXEs, music, etc organized?

I have a Canon RebelXT, so I have lots of RAW files and original JPEGs that I want to keep as well, so I need recommendations on that too.

 

[Arainach]

Pics go in the Pictures Library, EXEs go in the Downloads Library, Music goes in the Music library? It's not that hard.

If you're talking about precise folder styles below that, it's all personal preference. I store my Photos in subdirectories of YYYY-MM-DD based on when I downloaded hte pics from my camera (sometimes YYYY-MM-DD-DescriptiveWord to tell me where a certain set is or YYYY-MM-DD-Nikon and YYYY-MM-DD-Canon if I used both my cameras). My music is Genre\Artist\Album. My documents and downloads are in a flat system and I use Search

 

[DeaconFrost]

I've never used the My folders, and see absolutely no point in doing so. I have folders on my second drive, for Documents, Pictures, Music, etc, and then I keep a folder on my server called Install where I leave my apps to be installed.

 

[daemonmf]

I don't like using the My Documents folder(s) because it can be a pain to get that stuff out if you have to hook it up to another OS or system, at least if you're using NTFS. I know its supposed to protect privacy, but in my experience its hurt me more than its helped. I just make my own folders. The fairly recent trend of games saving under My Folders instead of a subfolder in their directory is quite annoying.

 

[Arainach]

The fairly recent trend of games saving under My Folders instead of a subfolder in their directory is quite annoying.

.....why? That's the correct way to do it, since user-mode apps have permissions to write in the user's home directory but shouldn't have permission to write in app directories.

 

[daemonmf]

.....why? That's the correct way to do it, since user-mode apps have permissions to write in the user's home directory but shouldn't have permission to write in app directories.

Because its not consistent. Some games do it and some don't so it just becomes a mess. I'd prefer each program just kept its own data logically under its own folder.

 

[Arainach]

Because its not consistent. Some games do it and some don't so it just becomes a mess. I'd prefer each program just kept its own data logically under its own folder.

Which is completely insecure. No program should have access to those directories. Period. No modern OS allows such a thing.

 

[heatlesssun]

Which is completely insecure. No program should have access to those directories. Period. No modern OS allows such a thing.

+1. Separation of programs and data is critical not only for security but for backup purposes as well. Most modern games do keep user data in user directories. This is a HUGE source of program compatibility issues when moving from XP to Vista. Modern software has this pretty well sorted out now.

 

[daemonmf]

Which is completely insecure. No program should have access to those directories. Period. No modern OS allows such a thing.

Thank god my save games are secure. Seriously, I know data segregation is good, but i'm not running a credit card data base on my home pc. I just want to be able to find my game saves and config files. MY opinion is that the My Docs folder(s) are useless in practice.

 

[Sovereign]

I like the "My" structure because I moved everything off my OS drive. OS is on C: (Raptor) and user files are on D: (RAID5 Intel Matrix). Therefore, Windows can take a dump and it does nothing to my files. I can also access my stuff through the OS "My" menu options since the OS is pointed there.

As to game saves, I'm glad they're in folders that are off the OS drive because I found the save files I thought I'd lost on format.

 

[heatlesssun]

Thank god my save games are secure. Seriously, I know data segregation is good, but i'm not running a credit card data base on my home pc. I just want to be able to find my game saves and config files. MY opinion is that the My Docs folder(s) are useless in practice.

It's a bit more serious than that. Applications in general should not have write access to the Program Files or Windows directories.

Besides, its easy to Bing and find out where saved games are, i do that all the time. And really there's no reason why games couldn't be more consistent in how they write to the Users folders.

 

[JimmiG]

Save games in the user folder isn't a problem for me. But there should be some kind of standardized folder for this... now games can either save to a visible folder in My Documents, or to some hidden application data folder. A single "My game files" folder with sub folders for each game would have been nice.

I generally use all the "My..." folders except My Music and Videos. I have so much music and video that I store it on a dedicated 500GB drive. Win7 libraries come in handy here.

 

[Unknown-One]

I generally use all the "My..." folders except My Music and Videos. I have so much music and video that I store it on a dedicated 500GB drive. Win7 libraries come in handy here.

You can tell Windows to put those system folders on other drives.

For example, right click My Music, select Properties, and go to the Location tab. You can tell Windows where you want to store all your music.

I have all of my personal folders stored in F:\Users\<MyUsername>\

 

[Eva_Unit_0]

Thank god my save games are secure. Seriously, I know data segregation is good, but i'm not running a credit card data base on my home pc. I just want to be able to find my game saves and config files. MY opinion is that the My Docs folder(s) are useless in practice.

it's not about keeping your save games secure, its about keeping the operating system secure. If you allow programs to write arbitrarily into system directories, then whats to stop a program from overwriting something important and hosing the system? Or installing malware or rootkits? Or stealing personal information?

 

[fibroptikl]

I use two hard drives. The first hard drive is for my operating system and applications. The second hard drive is for my data (D.

When I install apps I just leave everything at defaults so it goes onto the C: and if there is an option in the program I'll move it to the My Documents folder in C:\Users\Username (or Documents and Settings). Otherwise My Documents is my D: and I use my own folder structure with in that to handle everything I download work with, etc.

 

[fubak]

Thanks for the discussion. I think I'll create my own folders and stick to my yyyymmdd folder structure.

Doesn't Win7 support tagging of photos?