Use Folders To Keep PC & Mail Organized

More and more correspondence is being transferred from the printed world to computers and e-mail.

While there are plenty of advantages to this, the need to keep mail and programs organized is just as great, if not more so, on your personal computer.

Much like the need for a filing cabinet and folders for important bills and correspondence, a PC needs folders to do the most effective job of keeping track of information.

For example, most computers I see that use e-mail programs like Outlook Express have a single Inbox folder, often containing many thousands of messages.

What I recommend users do instead is to select their most frequent subjects and clients and create folders within the Inbox where all related incoming mail can be easily dragged and dropped.

To create a new Inbox folder in Outlook Express, for example, highlight the Inbox folder with a left mouse click, then right click the mouse and choose “New Folder”.

Type in a short name for the desired subject, and you'll have created a folder that any correspondence related to that subject can be more quickly reviewed and retrieved.

The same procedure can be followed for the Sent Folder as well if needed. Use the Edit and Find functions in Outlook Express, and you can locate all your correspondence on a given subject and move it to the specific folder.

Using folders has several advantages including faster location and retrieval of relevant mail, the ability to look at all your correspondence with a given client quickly and easily, and less chance of a gigantic Inbox file becoming data corrupted, which can result in a disastrous loss of information.

The same type of system can generally be adopted for any popular e-mail programs including Outlook, Thunderbird, and Entourage. Some Web mail programs, including the latest version of Yahoo! Mail, allow users to create additional folders.

Creating additional folders on computers is useful in at least two additional areas as well.

The first is in the main Programs List which contains all the shortcuts to launch programs on a PC.

Highlight “Programs” in the All Programs list, and then right click to Open All Users. When presented with the list of programs under Start Menu, highlight Programs, then click File and New and create a new Folder.

The main idea in doing this is to group multiple relevant programs together in a single folder, much like Windows, for example, includes numerous programs under the Accessories Folder, and then uses Sub-folders like System Tools for PC maintenance programs.

Some of the like folders I often create include Audio & Video, Web Browsers & Mail, Photo & Graphics, and PC Health, where I place all anti-virus and system maintenance programs in a single folder.

I find the latter especially helpful in serving as a reminder of what programs should be run on an ongoing basis to keep a PC in best operating condition.

The other way I use folders is for organizing program and other downloads. Create a New Folder via Windows Explorer on your hard drive for each program you download. It's also a good idea to put any relevant serial numbers and purchase information in the same folder for ready reference.

Tom Meek is a computer and media consultant working with businesses and individuals on high-tech needs. Another Day In Cyberville is published weekly in print and online via The Gainesville Voice, a weekly publication of The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. You can reach Tom Meek at adayincyberville@gmail.com.