# Archiving records - ideas ?



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

As I migrate from the older computer to the newer, I am wondering what to do with the 11+ gigs "Wallpaper" directory. 

It is filled with all the "paper work" for jobs going back many many years. Plus photos I took on estimates and some after installation. The pix (I would think) consume the most bytes.

Will I ever reference any of these jobs again ??? That's the question. And with my luck, if I totally delete today, tomorrow I will get a phone call. 

The options that run through my mind (and I would some other ideas - NO Chris, PWG, etc, I will not hard delete all) are:

Save all as is on multiple DVD's

Separate and save pix on multiple DVD's and smaller files (xls, doc, pdf) on one DVD

AND THEN there are the hard copies of estimate notes, printed estimates, and printed invoices in my file cabinet - but we'll cross that bridge later.


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

Dropbox.

I know how you feel about online storage but that's what I think.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

George Z said:


> Dropbox.
> 
> I know how you feel about online storage but that's what I think.


Even with the price reduction, going to DVD might be more appealing than paying $120/yr.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

George,

Even if I were one to appreciate the cloud, saving files there that I do not expect to access except in a rare instances don't make a lot of sense. 

I do have a 100 gig external HD I don't use often that could be relegated.


Gough,

I'm leaning toward DVD's, but that still encourages my genetic hoarding tendencies. At the moment, I'm going through the files and deleting OLD estimating photos. But that will take some time.


My problem is trying to figure out what is IMPORTANT to save. Which is the typical hoarder's dilemma.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

Why not just move them over to the new PC? Didn't you get a 1TB internal drive? 11Gb really isn't that much space taken up. If you're concerned about losing it, I guess you could throw it on a few DVDs.

As for the paperwork, I'd just take into consideration how far back you have to keep for auditing and taxation purposes and shred the rest. Don't need it anymore, get rid of it.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

daArch said:


> George,
> My problem is trying to figure out what is IMPORTANT to save. Which is the typical hoarder's dilemma.


I was actually thinking exactly the same thing when typing my previous post. We've both got experience/history with hoarders, and this tendency can certainly creep into the digital realm.

Minimize is the new mantra Bill. I just can't convince my wife of this. She also has history/experience with hoarding.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Yes, I do have a 1 T HD, but my goal is to DE-clutter. 

AND, I don't need these for immediate retrieval. 

Gotta find that balance.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Wildbill7145 said:


> I was actually thinking exactly the same thing when typing my previous post. We've both got experience/history with hoarders, and this tendency can certainly creep into the digital realm.
> 
> Minimize is the new mantra Bill. I just can't convince my wife of this. She also has history/experience with hoarding.


I think you may have joined PT after I posted pix of my mother's hoarding. My father was an engineer who kept thing very neat and ordered w/ minimal extraneous useless crap. He was able to keep her somewhat in check - SOMEWHAT. After he passed in 07, the house went to hell real quick. Here's a pict of the kitchen which is not an exception, just a good reresentation of the whole house (3,000 sf +/-)









so you can understand that I am scared schitless of letting the gene control me to that extent. The WW and I are not clutter free, but at least we have met our devil, looked him in the eye, and have shaken hands.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

That's worse than my brother's disaster he left at my Mom's after we moved her into my other brother's house. Not much worse though. My wife and I drove 500 miles with $400 worth of paint in the van to get started prepping the place for sale. My other brother said he'd gotten rid of "some" stuff.

We spent 5 minutes in the house and drove to my brothers and told them the house was unpaintable in it's current state. Spent the next 3 days doing dump runs, one right after the other.

We bought a smaller house for the hoarder brother to minimize the financial damage he could cause to Mom's much larger house if we left him there unattended. I actually feel sorry for the people living on the street of his new house. He won't let any of us in the house, but from the mess on the outside I imagine it looks just like your Mom's.

I've barely said anything to my brother in the past 10 years other than total rage outbursts for the disaster he caused at the house I grew up in. I've effectively deleted my own brother which really makes me sad. I had my other brother change the locks so the hoarder can never enter that house again.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

daArch said:


> George,
> 
> Even if I were one to appreciate the cloud, saving files there that I do not expect to access except in a rare instances don't make a lot of sense.
> 
> ...


not a damn bit of it, you're retired, end of discussion, that's my opinion, so there


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

I likely wouldn't do anything with them but if the hoarder gene is too strong, then go the external hard drive route or DVD them, date em', and in three years (if you haven't accessed the info) toss em'. You're retired for crying out loud.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

I've started a plan, essentially go through each client file and delete all the pre-installation pix taken at estimates. There are a few exceptions for "sentimental" reasons.

I am also trying to edit the post-installation pix if there are any.

ALL folders from jobs that were refused outright or expired due to non-reply got deleted.

I will then burn the pdf, xls, doc, and text files pertaining to the business.

Already, and on the "K" folders, I am down to 6.7 Gig from 11.6. I think I'll easily pare it down to 4.7. :thumsbup:

I just can't see any need to recall pix of past clients' powder rooms

it feels GOOD to delete stuff :thumbup: :yes: :thumbup: :yes:

Thanks for all the encouragement and support


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## I paint paint (May 4, 2014)

Anyone have any idea how long DVDs will be around for? Aren't most of the new computing devices moving away from the DVD drive.

I don't believe the small "notebook" laptops, the ultra thin MacBooks, or any of the iPad tablet type devices have them.

Do we all need to buy multiple external DVD drives today, and hope there will be a cord available with the correct connectors a decade from now?

(As you can tell by my questions, tech is not one of my strengths.)


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

I paint paint said:


> Anyone have any idea how long DVDs will be around for? Aren't most of the new computing devices moving away from the DVD drive.
> 
> I don't believe the small "notebook" laptops, the ultra thin MacBooks, or any of the iPad tablet type devices have them.
> 
> ...


are you telling me all those valuable records I have on these may not be readable in the distant future?


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

I paint paint said:


> Anyone have any idea how long DVDs will be around for? Aren't most of the new computing devices moving away from the DVD drive.
> 
> I don't believe the small "notebook" laptops, the ultra thin MacBooks, or any of the iPad tablet type devices have them.
> 
> ...


Very true. My current Apple computer was the last model to have a DVD drive - and it's a few years old. Oh well, Bill can store them alongside his collection of floppy discs.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

That is worrisome as CD/DVD's appear to me to be a good long term storage system. As we know, flash drives go belly up for no apparent reason and so do hard drives.

And the cloud . . . well who's to say DropBox or any other will be a viable company in this fast paced techie world. And let's not think about the vulnerability when some anti-social groups (that T word flagged by all agencies), mother nature, or simple human error buggles up the internet and/or the power grid.

I guess I should stock up on cheap DVD drives and not throw away too many old computers. (there yah go, enabling the hoarder in me)


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

daArch said:


> That is worrisome as CD/DVD's appear to me to be a good long term storage system. As we know, flash drives go belly up for no apparent reason and so do hard drives.
> 
> And the cloud . . . well who's to say DropBox or any other will be a viable company in this fast paced techie world. And let's not think about the vulnerability when some anti-social groups (that T word flagged by all agencies), mother nature, or simple human error buggles up the internet and/or the power grid.
> 
> I guess I should stock up on cheap DVD drives and not throw away too many old computers. (there yah go, enabling the hoarder in me)


Sounds as if the media should last long enough.
http://www.loc.gov/preservation/scientists/projects/cd-r_dvd-r_rw_longevity.html

Given the amount of material stored on DVDs now, I think the drives will be around for a bit.

OTOH, I'm not quite sure what to do with the stuff we have on ZIP disks....

I think there are still some 5 1/4 floppies buried in the office somewhere.


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## I paint paint (May 4, 2014)

Gough said:


> Sounds as if the media should last long enough.
> http://www.loc.gov/preservation/scientists/projects/cd-r_dvd-r_rw_longevity.html
> 
> Given the amount of material stored on DVDs now, I think the drives will be around for a bit.
> ...


Transfer all your floppies to to hard disks. Transfer your hard disks to super disks. Transfer your super disks to zip disks. Transfer your zip disks to cd. Transfer your cds to dvd. Transfer your dvds to flash drives. Transfer your flash drives to external hard drives. Transfer all your hard drives to cloud. Shoot self in head?

Planned obsolescence was wrong in auto industry then. It is wrong in tech industry now.

I archive paper records in bank boxes. Once every five years, the greatest joy know to man comes along. I dropped a trunk load of bank boxes off to be shredded. And I rejoice and rejoice.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

we have shelves and shelves of Video cassettes - and no working player.

We have too many audio cassettes - and no working deck

We never did 8-track

I have about three linear feet of 1.44 mb floppies, most corrupted and no disk drives.

I have a small box of 100 mb Zip drives - ALL corrupted

we have flash drives kicking around that won't read. 

We have boxes and boxes of slides and prints - some prints dated 1890's. All that were stored reasonably are very viewable.

I just found a letter written to my mother from a family friend in Dec 1942, as clear as the day it was written

Hmmmmm, what does that say about modern archival media.


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## I paint paint (May 4, 2014)

daArch said:


> we have shelves and shelves of Video cassettes - and no working player.
> 
> We have too many audio cassettes - and no working deck
> 
> ...



Should I have chosen to hang on to them, I would have had many lineal feet of scratched, liquid stained, UV damaged, corrupted and unsalvageable cd/dvds.

Aren't those re-writable DVDs the greatest tech/archival advancement ever?

(No.)


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

daArch said:


> we have shelves and shelves of Video cassettes - and no working player.
> 
> We have too many audio cassettes - and no working deck
> 
> ...


The current owner of my parents' house just gave us a note written by my great-great grandfather in 1797. It's perfectly clear, but illegible. It seems crappy handwriting runs in the family.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Gough said:


> The current owner of my parents' house just gave us a note written by my great-great grandfather in 1797. It's perfectly clear, but illegible. It seems crappy handwriting runs in the family.


I failed history in the 11th grade because I could not read my own notes prior to the final exam.

(NO, starting to study for it at 4 AM in the morning of the exam had NOTHING to do with it)

I find it amazing that my handwriting looks way too similar to my father's chicken scratchings. And he went to school (as you know) in NJ, while I am Mass edgeimicated


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

daArch said:


> I failed history in the 11th grade because I could not read my own notes prior to the final exam.
> 
> (NO, starting to study for it at 4 AM in the morning of the exam had NOTHING to do with it)
> 
> I find it amazing that my handwriting looks way too similar to my father's chicken scratchings. And he went to school (as you know) in NJ, while I am Mass edgeimicated


My Dad went as far as grade 8, then worked in farming until he got married and became a janitor until retirement. He had the nicest cursive handwriting of anyone I've ever known. It's a lost art.


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