      
|
Develop a Storage Strategy
Here's a tip that can save you
lots of frustration. Develop a storage strategy! It's easy. Create one or more
directories (folders) on your computer where you will store data you create.
First, however, let's define the word "Path" in computer lingo. The
"Path" is akin to driving directions from one location to another. Just as you
would tell a person how to get to your home or business from their location,
you must tell your computer where a particular file or folder is located on
your computer's hard drive, floppy drive, zip drive, etc. A "Path" usually
starts at what is called the "root". If you have just one computer with just
one hard drive, one floppy drive and one CD-ROM drive, you will have three
"roots": the "A:" (your 3-1/2 floppy drive), the "C:" (your hard drive), and
the "D" (your CD-ROM) drive.
Now if you are connected to a network
and/or have a zip drive connected to your computer, you will have additional
"roots". Your zip drive will have a drive letter, as will any of the drives on
other computers on the network to which you have access. Each storage device
connected to your computer will have a drive letter assigned to it (except some
tape drives). In essence, each drive letter is a "root".
For example,
let's say you have a zip drive connected to your computer. Its assigned drive
letter (root) is "E". Under the "E" root you have two folders: CLIENTS and
SUPPLIERS. Under CLIENTS, you have four folders; MARIAS, JONES, BIRDIES, and
KINGSTON. The "Path" to the BIRDIES folder is: E:\CLIENTS\BIRDIES.
Now
that you know the definition of the word "Path", let's develop a simple
"Storage Strategy" where you will save the data files you create for each of
your clients.
First, you will need to create a new folder called
CLIENTS. Open WINDOWS EXPLORER. Click (highlight) the root drive partition of
the drive upon which you want to create the new folder(s). For example, if you
have only one hard drive that is not divided into partitions [a hard drive can
be divided into sections (called partitions), each of which will be assigned a
drive letter], click (highlight) the "C" which you will find directly beneath
the 3-1/2 floppy A drive at the top of the left Explorer window.
Now,
from the menu bar at the top of your window, choose FILE, then NEW, then
FOLDER. You've just created a NEW FOLDER. You'll see it highlighted (waiting
for you to type a name for it) at the bottom of the right window. So, type in a
name. Let's call this one CLIENTS. Next, create new folders inside of CLIENTS
for each of your clients. Highlight the folder CLIENTS, then from the menu at
the top of the screen, choose FILE, then NEW, then FOLDER. Now, type the name
of one of your clients; let's say it's Bill's Bakery, so we'll call it BILLS.
Do the same for all of your clients, so that when you are done, you have a
folder for each of your clients under the folder CLIENTS on your "C" drive.
Henceforth, whenever you create a data file for Bill's Bakery, save it
to the BILLS folder. Be it a Word document, Excel file, image file.any file you
create that relates to Bill's Bakery, save them all in the BILLS folder.
The advantage to developing and utilizing a storage strategy should be
obvious to you. It makes finding a particular data file very easy. It also
keeps all of your data files outside of the program (application) folder where
the program you used to create the data file, resides. Some programs, such as
Word, default to a folder to save files you create. Word's default is MY
DOCUMENTS, which is a stand-alone folder outside of Microsoft Office. You can
certainly use the default, but if you do, create client folders within the MY
DOCUMENTS folder and save any Word docs relevant to a particular client to that
client's respective folder in the MY DOCUMENTS folder.
If you wish to
change the default "save" settings in Word, here's how you do it. With Word
open, choose TOOLS from the menu bar at the top of your screen, then click on
OPTIONS at the bottom of the drop-down menu bar. Now, click on the FILE
LOCATIONS tab. You will see a list of choices. Highlight the DOCUMENTS line
which you will note indicates under the "Location" column "C:\MY DOCUMENTS".
Next click on MODIFY which opens up the MODIFY window. Click on the down arrow
to the right of the "Look In" window. Now it's simply a matter of choosing the
path to the folder where you want Word to default to saving your files.
Using our example folder CLIENTS, click on the "C" drive and then find
the folder CLIENTS in the "Modify Locations" window. Double-click on it. Now
choose OK and then OK one more time. This modifies your default save folder to
C:\CLIENTS and closes the window.
The next time you choose SAVE from
the menu bar or click on the SAVE icon, it will default to saving your document
in the C:\CLIENTS folder instead of the C:\MY DOCUMENTS folder. It's up to you
now to further direct the save location to the appropriate client's folder
under the CLIENT folder. If you are saving a letter to Bill's Bakery, simply
double-click on the BILLS folder in the "Save As" window. Name your document
and choose SAVE.
Many programs do not have the ability to change the
default save location as does Word. I suggest you use the HELP file to see if
it is possible to modify the default save location of a particular program
(application) you are using. If the feature is not available, you will have to
manually modify the path.
For example, you use Wordpad to create a
letter to Bill's Bakery, and you want to save it to your BILLS folder before
printing.
TIP: You should always save a file before you print
it. In fact, you should make regular saves of files as you create them. Don't
make the mistake of waiting until you have created the entire document before
saving it. Save it as you develop it. Doing this is smart strategy because in
case your computer locks up, crashes or perhaps there's a power outage [and you
have no battery back-up (UPS-Universal Power Supply) on which to rely], you
will only loose the data which was not saved prior to the interruption.
The default save location for a file created using Wordpad is
C:\WINDOWS, but you want to save the file in your BILLS folder, so you need to
create a path to that folder. Choose SAVE. The SAVE AS window will open and you
will see that it wants to save your file in the WINDOWS folder. Click on the
down arrow to the right of the "Save In" window line. Use the slide bar to move
up to where you can see the "C" root (C:). Click on it once. Now, find the
CLIENTS folder and double-click on it. Now you will see that you are in the
CLIENTS folder. You will also see a list of all the folders and files in the
CLIENTS folder. Double-click on the BILLS folder. Pick a name for your Wordpad
file (where is says "File Name") and then click SAVE. That's all there is to
it.
When developing your Storage Strategy, try to keep it as simple and
logical as possible. You can create (nest) folders within folders. within
folders, within folders, etc. as we have done above, but avoid nesting folders
too deep. If you nest folders too deep, it will cause problems within Windows,
not to mention the additional time required to navigate to deeply nested
folders. Use the old KISS formula Keep It Simple, Stupid.
-
Rich Poremba
RETURN TO
ARCHIVES |
| Internet Specials |
Free Catalogs |
Computers |
Product Line-Up |
|
Newz U Can Use | Resource Links | Web
Design |
| Home |
Guestbook | Order Online | Email
|
Office
Helper
1330 Ross Street
(just off McDowell Blvd., 1 block
south of the Petaluma Cinemas)
(800) 862-4963 - (800) 933-7964
(Fax)
oh@officehelper.com
©
Office Helper 1999, 2000
Feedback Privacy Statement
|
|
|
