10 tools to quickly retrieve your files PDF Print E-mail

 In our modern world, digital medias are being multiplied ad nauseam and become more and more difficult to locate. How many time have you been searching for this email written by one of your colleague and that you need urgently.

 

There are quite a lot of solutions out there, and even it may seem exaggerated, using two or more simultaneously still makes sense (except for MSD and Copernic which may put your PC on its knees when indexing simultaneously).

 

I personally recommend the following:
  • Folder structure - certainly the first step to a clear structure, but don't go past a third sub-folder level it doesn't make sense
  • Naming convention - A self-explanatory name, that's a good start for quick file retrieval
  • MS Desktop search - The one I do prefer but did no longer worked on my work PC
  • Copernic Desktop Search - My second choice but still a good one (works where MS Desktop search fails)
  • Everything - A quick and portable alternative
  • Xobni - A great tool for retrieving quickly any e-mail, just great!
  • Taggedfrog - A file tagging tool I will detail in a later post
  • RecentX - Ok, you cannot remember how the file looks like, or what was its content but you still may remember when you have made it. Well, RecentX extends your recent document folder and enables you to retrieve your files based on their creation/update date
  • Outlook journal: Of course, why paying for something you may already have? Don't forget to enable the option as it needs to track all your MS Office document creation and edition to display the related activities on a timeline.
  • Evernote - I am a great fan of Evernote and I push a lot of notes, thoughts and screen captures for a later processing. Evernote features a great search engine which even turns your pdf files into searchable files. Send your pictures, scans and similar to Evernote and never worry to retrieve them
It is not rare that I query Copernic, when XOBNI doesn't return any result. I have just made sure through their parameters that they index mails and files either in the background or when the PC is idle.
I am not sure, as time passes and my file number keep growing that such tools will still allow me a quick retrieal, but for the moment it does a pretty good job, with few frustrations.
If you play around with different file versions, you may want to look at the time machine-like applications article.
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