Organizing this collection of digital data and keeping track of what we have becomes more and more difficult as time goes on.  Storage cabinets, boxes, shelving units, entertainment centers and other furniture options are available at every store from Walgreens to Ikea and everyone has owned a few in hopes of keeping their collection organized, accessible and visually appealing.  No matter what you have to hold your data, it is most likely a temporary solution, as you’ll soon be purchasing that latest album, movie or video game.

What do we do next?

There are several options available to the TV, movie, music and game lovers of the world, but before we jump into the details, let’s take a look at the specifics of what we need to organize:

• The discs themselves – they need a home that will protect them from the elements and their worst enemy… scratches.
• The cases and artwork – depending on who you are and how “particular” you are about your collection, you might be concerned about the packaging of these discs as well.
• The contents of your collection – no matter how you store the physical discs, you’ll need a way to store the names of all of your individual titles.  At some point, you won’t be able to remember what all you have.
• New items – no matter what solution you decide on, you’ll need to be able to easily update the collection with new physical media and keep your list of titles updated.

Digitizing Your Media

If you are a techie type and really want to get organized, you can always convert your physical collection into a digital one.  Other than a familiarity with computers, there are several hurdles to this plan-of-attack that you should consider before jumping.

1. Storage – converting DVD’s, CD’s, etc. means you’ll need space for them all.  DVD’s can go over 4GB each and Blu-Rays as much as 25GB.  Of course you can shrink those file sizes, but that comes at a price.
2. Equipment – chances are you already have a computer, but do you have one that is powerful enough to rip through DVD’s?  Do you have a Blu-Ray reader on your PC?
3. Software – there are hundreds of programs out there that will help you “backup” your collection, but they each come with a price and their own limitations.  For instance, iTunes can help you back up your music collection, but you’ll find it incredibly difficult to back up your movies, not to mention time consuming.
4. Quality – Making backup copes of your media to a hard drive or storage device means you will probably need to compress the files.  Doing so can have a negative impact on the sound and/or picture quality and chances are you didn’t buy a Blu-Ray player to watch movies at a lower quality.
5. Types of Media – Assuming you get past the other issues listed above, you’ll still have one major hurdle.  Certain media types cannot legally be “backed up” or digitized.  The biggest limitation will be games for the major consoles.
6. Time – Converting hundreds or even thousands of discs could take months.

Benefits of converting your collection include easy access, limited physical space requirements (since you can now toss or store your physical media), and minimized risk of loss.  You could even free up some valuable storage space by simply backing up those older formats, like CD and DVD.  Keep your Blu-Ray discs and games in a physical storage device until technology advancements make it a little more feasible to convert them.

Verdict: It’s just not worth the hassle.

Physical Storage with Digital Cataloging

It may seem a little dated, but storing all of these discs for easy access is the least expensive route and will save you hours and hours of your valuable time.  There are several options out there, but I am going to focus on the solution I implemented.

Part 1: Storing the Physical Media

I received a discgear storage solution for Christmas last year and, at first, thought it was something I wouldn’t use.  As it turns out, this was one of the best gifts I ever received.  My Selector 120 HD (shown below) is now home to the majority of my movie collection.

Selector 120HD

My movies are kept secure, protected from scratches and, thanks to the slide out Disc Index, I know exactly what movies I have and which slot they are located in.  Software included with the unit made it easy for me to type in the names of my movies, print out a listing and insert it in the slide-out drawer located below the discs.

My Selector 120HD - Filled With Movies

The artwork that originally came in the case for each of my movies has been added to the provided book (shown below) so that I can flip through my collection visually and decide what I want to watch.

Provided Cover Book for Selector 120HD

CONS: Although this system is great, there are some downfalls that you should be aware of before you get started:

• Size – you can only put 120 movies in the holder before you’ll need more space or another holder from discgear.
• Time – I spent about 5 hours on this project, from start to finish.  Who knew it would take that long?
• Titles – There is no database or list for entering the movie titles.  You’ll have to type them all out yourself.
• Updating – I put my movies in alphabetical order (for easy location).  That’s great until I want to add a new movie to the holder.  Then I’ll have to reprint my listing and move the covers around in the book.

Verdict: At a price tag of $69.95 (unless you catch it on sale over at QVC.com – last price was $54.75) this storage unit is well worth the price.  I would have spent so much more on software and storage if I went the digital route.  Also, the Selector 120HD is attractive (leather finish) and makes a great conversation piece.  Anyone can walk up to the holder, find a movie quickly and get the disc in hand without training or technical skills.

UPDATE (posted 3-09-2011 @ 9:30am) – QVC apparently stopped carrying the Selector 120HD, but I just located another website, with a lower price.  Check out CSN Stores, where you can pick up this unit for $47.99 + shipping (a flat $7.95).  That’s about $15 off the retail price.  If you find it cheaper, be sure to leave us all a link in the comments below.

Part 2: Digital Cataloging

Because all of my movies would not fit in the Selector 120HD and I still have another 100+, including Blu-Ray discs (kept separately), and box sets (that I wanted to keep in the box they came in), my collection is still all over the place.  I need a way to catalog my list of titles, both for easy referencing and location.  After all, once I figure out if I own the movie, where do I go to get it.

There are several software solutions online that meet these requirements, but I will be going with Movie Collector from collectorz.com.  That’s right, I WILL be going with this software.  This is something that I have been putting off and now it is time to tackle it head on.

Movie Collector from Collectorz.com

Once I have my collection of movies entered and ready to reference I’ll follow up with a review of this handy software.

I have written about Dropbox repeatedly and used their product religiously since a good friend introduced me to the service.  If you haven’t already been introduced, let me the one to tell you all about it (see Introduction below).  For those of you who are already fans, this week’s news was like getting a new double-album and a FREE concert.  You veterans can jump on down to the WOW! section to see the latest from our rock stars.

Introduction

JumpstartMyPC.com was started to help PC users get the most out of their computer and no product exemplifies this idea like Dropbox! Dropbox is a file-syncing, file sharing, online backup tool that you can access from just about anywhere and you can start using it for FREE! I have written about this product many times, shared it with clients, friends and family and I use it myself, every single day. If you aren’t using it yet, you are in for a real treat.

Dropox is a storage application and service operated by Evenflow, Inc. The service enables users to store and sync files online and between computers. There are many great features to this product, but best of all IT IS FREE. Click below and watch the video (created by the folks at CommonCraft) to see for yourself.

Features

A complete feature list is available on the Dropbox web site, but we have a few highlights for you:

• File Syncing – Start with 2GB of storage for free and synchronize any file type to as many computers/devices as you want. Within seconds of adding a file to your Dropbox, it is synced to any and every computer you have installed Dropbox on.
• File Sharing – Want to share files with friends and family but aren’t sure how? If you can right-click, you can use Dropbox to send anyone a link to a file. Create a shared area for pictures, movies or even work documents.
• Online Backup – Your files are stored on the Dropbox servers, so if your computer crashes or you accidentally delete it locally, your file (and previous versions) are still available.
• Security – Without going into a lot of technical jargon, your files are secure. User names and passwords are required to access any files and all of the transmissions of your data are encrypted.

Pricing

Getting started with Dropbox is FREE and they start you off with 2GB of space. You can refer friends, family and colleagues to increase this space up to 10GB, which is adequate for most users. To give you some perspective, I use Dropbox for JumpstartMyPC every day. I’ve been storing blogs, invoices, install files, images, etc. for 7 months now and haven’t even used 30% of the 3GB provided to me.

If, or when, you feel that you need more space, you can sign up for the Pro 50 ($9.99/mth) or Pro 100 ($19.99/mth) account.  Yearly plans are also available and you can save some cash by paying for the year in advance.   Although the pricing is fair, it is my hope that pressure from similar services and an upcoming Google storage offer will cause the Dropbox folks to lower that pricing a bit.  That being said, if I fill up my 10GB of space, I won’t hesitate to pay for the Pro 50 plan.

WOW!

As if the feature set and applications already released by the folks at the recently upgraded Dropbox headquarters weren’t enough, we were presented with several fantastic bits of news this week:

1. The official Android app is here – YES!!! I can now access all of my Dropbox files on my G1.  Android users (and there are a lot of us) can now have our files with us everywhere we go.  It’s like having a tiny briefcase in our phone.
2. Dropbox has an iPad app – WHAT???  How did you do that so quickly.  I haven’t been able to get a hands-on with the iPad yet, but some great screen shots have surfaced of the new app at work and it looks great.
3. Mobile API for “Dropbox Anywhere” – Developers can now get in on the fun.  According to cnet news, Dropbox “has worked with a number of developers to integrate their apps into the new data pipeline… All of these apps are able to tap into a user’s Dropbox storage to fetch data, and save it back without needing to use any of that device’s local data.”
4. Blackberry on the Way – Only listed as “quite soon,” the imminent release of the Blackberry app for Dropbox is on the horizon.  Last time a “coming soon” was announced (Android app), it took exactly one month for Dropbox to deploy the app.

Whether you are a Dropbox user currently or not, you can see that Dropbox is starting to turn up everywhere.  For those of you who need files on the go, anywhere at anytime, the one choice in cloud storage is becoming quite obvious.  Better start populating your Dropbox now so you’ll be ready for the revolution.

JumpstartMyPC.com was started to help PC users get the most out of their computer and no product exemplifies this idea like Dropbox! Dropbox is a file-syncing, file sharing, online backup tool that you can access from just about anywhere and you can start using it for FREE! I have written about this product many times, shared it with clients, friends and family and I use it myself, every single day. If you aren’t using it yet, you are in for a real treat. If you are using it, read on to find out what’s new and how you can now access your files without even using a computer.

DropBox is a storage application and service operated by Evenflow, Inc. The service enables users to store and sync files online and between computers. There are many great features to this product, but best of all IT IS FREE. Click below and watch the video (created by the folks at CommonCraft) to see for yourself.

Features

A complete feature list is available on the Dropbox web site, but we have a few highlights for you:

• File Syncing – Start with 2GB of storage for free and synchronize any file type to as many computers/devices as you want. Within seconds of adding a file to your Dropbox, it is synced to any and every computer you have installed Dropbox on.
• File Sharing – Want to share files with friends and family but aren’t sure how? If you can right-click, you can use Dropbox to send anyone a link to a file. Create a shared area for pictures, movies or even work documents.
• Online Backup – Your files are stored on the Dropbox servers, so if your computer crashes or you accidentally delete it locally, your file (and previous versions) are still available.
• Security – Without going into a lot of technical jargon, your files are secure. User names and passwords are required to access any files and all of the transmissions of your data are encrypted.

Access

Dropbox started as a computer software and has evolved into something more. Over the last year, Dropbox has added an iPhone app that lets you access your files on the go. Setup takes less than 2 minutes (I just did it myself) and your files are instantly available. It’s like adding storage space to your iPhone or iPod touch and (as we mentioned before) it is FREE! There is currently no support for other smartphone devices, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Android support was added within the next year. In the mean time, you can still access your files via a web browser.

UPDATE: (4/05/2010) A recent blog post titled The Dropbox Android App! confirms our suspicions and warms our hearts.  Dropbox for Android may not be running on my G1 just yet, but “this app will be available for all flavors of Android within the next couple months.”

Dropbox is on your Desktop, in your Web Browser & on your iPhone!

Pricing

Getting started with Dropbox is FREE and they start you off with 2GB of space. You can refer friends, family and colleagues to increase this space up to 3GB, which is adequate for most users. To give you some perspective, I use Dropbox for JumpstartMyPC every day. I’ve been storing blogs, invoices, install files, images, etc. for 7 months now and haven’t even used 30% of the 3GB provided to me.

UPDATE: (4/05/2010) News began to circulate last week that Dropbox has increased their referral program rewards and I just confirmed that users can now earn up to 8GB of additional storage by passing the word on to friends and family.  Pair that with the 2GB of FREE space provided to all “free users” and you can now max out your storage space at 10GB.

If, or when, you feel that you need more space, you can sign up for the Pro 50 ($9.99/mth) or Pro 100 ($19.99/mth) account. Yearly plans are also available and you can save some cash by paying for the year in advance. Although the pricing is fair, it is my hope that pressure from similar services and an upcoming Google storage offer will cause the Dropbox folks to lower that pricing a bit. That being said, if I fill up my 3GB 10GB of space, I won’t hesitate to pay for the Pro 50 plan.

A quick search of the internet will provide you with tens, maybe even hundreds, of ideas for re-purposing an old PC, but time, space and/or a limited budget will lead most to the final decision of trashing that old PC.  If you’ve come to this decision, then you have most likely asked yourself (and others) “what should I do with the hard drive?”  No doubt you have heard the horror stories and rumors of information stolen from discarded drives and are aware of the potential dangers of simply tossing that hard drive out on the curb.  Just in case you haven’t, you should know that throwing an old drive out is the equivalent of tossing out your wallet, with all of your credit cards and ID still in it.

There are hundreds of articles on discarding old drives, including a recent article on Gizmodo.com, titled Leave No Trace: How to Completely Erase Your Hard Drives, SSDs and Thumb Drives, that prompted me to write this post.  The only problem is, these fact-filled step-by-step blog posts and web sites can get a little overwhelming.  The main thing that any PC user needs to know is erasing your files does not mean they are gone forever! Long story short, unless you take extra measures to protect your personal information, anyone with access to your drive and basic computer skills could recover the data you thought you erased.

Hard Drive Wiping Options

• Destruction - If you are never going to use the drive again and simply don’t want to invest any time, a hammer can be your best tool.  Smash that drive into a thousand pieces and toss them out with the trash.  No need for chemicals, heat or microwaves.  Those methods can be dangerous if you are not extremely careful.  For the hammer method, I would just advise that you use safety goggles.
• Zero-Fill – In this method, you use a hard disk utility software from your drive vendor to overwrite all of the data on your drive with zeros.  The software is often FREE and the process just requires an investment of your time.  The bonus to this is you can now use that old drive as a backup device or external hard drive.  The article on Gizmodo.com or a quick Google search for “zero fill” will lead you to the software needed.
• Secure Wiping – This method provides even more security than zero-fill.  Again, software is used to overwrite data, but multiple passes are made using special numeric patterns.  This process will require several hours of your time but will leave you with a fresh drive that can be re-purposed.
• Other Software – There are numerous other software titles that promise to erase data quickly and easily.  In the even that you do use one of these programs, it is best to test your drive after the process, to make sure that your data is not recoverable.  There are several data recovery programs that can evaluate the effectiveness of the wipe.

Other Data Storage Devices

With so many options for storing/transferring data available today, and new options coming to market constantly, you will have to be careful about wiping your data.  The methods mentioned above will effectively remove data from a hard drive, but jump drives, SSDs, flash cards, etc. might call for a different approach.  Research the recommended methods for your device before tossing it or handing it off to a friend or family member.  You just never know who might end up with access to your old information.

Trust Yourself

As Dr. Gregory House puts it “everyone lies.”  When it comes to your personal information and the very real possibility of identity theft you should not trust anyone, other than yourself.  Do NOT leave your data in the hands of a computer repair shop, big-box store Geek or family friend who promises to erase your data for you.  You wouldn’t hand them your wallet (with everything still inside) and just “hope for the best,” so don’t hand them your hard drive either.

DropBox is a storage application and service operated by Evenflow, Inc.  The service enables users to store and sync files online and between computers.  There are many great features to this product, but best of all IT IS FREE.  Click below and watch the video (created by the folks at CommonCraft) to see for yourself.

Features

A complete feature list is available on the Dropbox web site, but we have a few highlights for you:

• File Syncing – Start with 2GB of storage for free and synchronize any file type to as many computers/devices as you want.  Within seconds of adding a file to your Dropbox, it is synced to any and every computer you have installed Dropbox on.
• File Sharing – Want to share files with friends and family but aren’t sure how?  If you can right-click, you can use Dropbox to send anyone a link to a file.  Create a shared area for pictures, movies or even work documents.
• Online Backup – Your files are stored on the Dropbox servers, so if your computer crashes or you accidentally delete it locally, your file (and previous versions) are still available.
• Security – Without going into a lot of technical jargon, your files are secure.  User names and passwords are required to access any files and all of the transmissions of your data are encrypted.

Access

Dropbox started as a computer software and has evolved into something more.  Over the last year, Dropbox has added an iPhone app that lets you access your files on the go.  Setup takes less than 2 minutes (I just did it myself) and your files are instantly available.  It’s like adding storage space to your iPhone or iPod touch and (as we mentioned before) it is FREE! There is currently no support for other smartphone devices, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Android support was added within the next year.  In the mean time, you can still access your files via a web browser.

Dropbox is on your Desktop, in your Web Browser & on your iPhone!

Pricing

Getting started with Dropbox is FREE and they start you off with 2GB of space.  You can refer friends, family and colleagues to increase this space up to 3GB, which is adequate for most users.  To give you some perspective, I use Dropbox for JumpstartMyPC every day.  I’ve been storing blogs, invoices, install files, images, etc. for 7 months now and haven’t even used 30% of the 3GB  provided to me.

If, or when, you feel that you need more space, you can sign up for the Pro 50 ($9.99/mth) or Pro 100 ($19.99/mth) account.  Yearly plans are also available and you can save some cash by  paying for the year in advance.  Although the pricing is fair, it is my hope that pressure from similar services and an upcoming Google storage offer will cause the Dropbox folks to lower that pricing a bit.  That being said, if I fill up my 3GB of space, I won’t hesitate to pay for the Pro 50 plan.

A few years ago, Flash drives (also known as Jump or USB drives) become very popular.  At first, they were a bit pricey and you were lucky to get a 2GB drive for under a hundred dollars.  As the popularity grew and the manufacturing price dropped, so did the price of these drives.  They are now so inexpensive and plentiful you can find them in a bowl by the register, right next to the gum and “extra change” dish.  These drives are great, but they have their limitations.  Lack of security, damage, loss, limited space….  Well, there is a new sheriff in town, and its name is Dropbox.

DropBox is a storage application and service operated by Evenflow, Inc.  The service enables users to store and sync files online and between computers.  There are many great features to this product, but best of all IT IS FREE.  I would go on and tell you about all these features, but why recreate the wheel.  The folks at Dropbox have done a fantastic job and telling you all about their product in a simple, easy to understand way.  Follow the link for more information: http://www.getdropbox.com/tour.

I’ll just tell you how Dropbox has made my life easier.  At one point, I had a work computer and 2 home computers.  Someone would ask me for a file and I would have to begin the hunt.  Maybe the file was at my fingertips, maybe it was at home on computer number 1.  On average, I probably spent 10 minutes looking for any given file.  With the introduction of DropBox, this was no longer an issue.  Now, as soon as I decide to save a file that I think might need to be accessed again, it goes straight into my Dropbox.  My Dropbox is accessible on any of my computers (via an icon in the system tray) or from any computer that is connected to the internet (via a web page).

Setting Dropbox up is simple and literally only takes a few minutes.  Set it up on as many PCs as you would like.  Every time you add or update a file, a pop-up tells you about the change on every one of these computers.  You start out with 2GB of storage space, but can increase that to 3GB by telling your friends about the product.  At this point, the product is still completely free.  If you feel you need more space, Dropbox offers a paid subscription for up to 100GB of space.  Personally, I have used Dropbox for almost a year and I still only use a very small portion of the 3GB that I received for free.

Dropbox is great for anyone who has ever:

• Emailed a file to themselves
• Used USB drives to shuttle files around and share them
• Tried to share large files but couldn’t because of email attachment limits
• Needed automatic backup of documents with zero setup and maintenance
• Wanted to share files with minimal effort
• Needed to access their files remotely on other computers

This is by far one of the best tools out there and you have absolutely nothing to lose.  It’s FREE!

UPDATE: Since we originally posted our article back in September, Dropbox has also been released for the iPhone.  Never be without your important documents again.

Mobility has become one of the key factors in most every tech/gadget purchase we make.  Smaller, lighter, faster, easier….  These are all the buzzwords that surround a truly cool gadget and they all apply to hard drive space as well.  Sure, I can run out and buy a 1TB external hard drive for under $100.  The problem is that I have to lug it around with my laptop if I want all of my music, photos, movies, etc.  As part of our ongoing “celebration” of the Windows 7 release on Thursday, today’s topic is for those who really do NOT plan on upgrading.

Let’s say that you bought a new laptop within the last 2 years.  You have Vista and a decent hard drive (120-250GB).  That would be plenty of space, but then you got an iPod and began collecting music and movies.  If you’ve checked lately, that iTunes library has grown quite large.  Your space is running out so you buy an external hard drive, bring it home and plug it in.  It is only then that you realize there are several key flaws to using this new hard drive:

• It is taking up too much space on your desk/work area.
• Your iTunes library doesn’t really extend to the external drive.  Turns out you will have to move the entire library to make this work.  ** Moving an iTunes library is NOT an easy process.
• Carrying the laptop with you means leaving your library or lugging that external drive along as well.

The solution, upgrade the hard drive IN your laptop.  I know, it immediately sounds like a pain.  Well, it is not as bad as you think and the benefits are two-fold.  Upgrading an internal drive requires a new drive, an enclosure (to hold that drive) and some software.  After some serious research, I stumbled across CMS products.  They have a data transfer kit that gives you everything you need (with the exception of the new hard drive) to upgrade that old drive to something more useful.  Once you upgrade, you are left with an old drive that can be used as a portable storage device.

The process is fairly simple.  You plug in the new drive, copy all of your data over, switch the old drive for the new and restart.  All of your old programs, settings and files are right where you left them, but now you have more hard drive space without the hassle of an external drive.  The process does take anywhere from 4-6 hours (depending on the size of the original drive), but most of that time is just waiting.  You don’t have to sit in front of the computer and watch the process.

So for all of those who have decided to stick with their old laptop and not bother upgrading to Windows 7, maybe you will get more value from an upgrade to a new hard drive.  Spend the money and increase the capabilities of your current system.  I did it with my 7 year-old laptop and it works better than ever.  And remember, if you want to upgrade that drive, but don’t want to spend the time, JumpstartMyPC.com can help you.