Making indexes of back-ups

Can anyone suggest a way that I can get the info from a pile of Data DVDs I've burned as archives so that I can have a searchable index of where files are? (maybe pasting it into an Excel file or similar).

E.g... so I can search for a tune/artist and it'll show me which disc they're on?

I usually do a DVD archive every month (not just a back-up.. but to archive it off) and wanted an easier way to find search for if I need it again.

from any command line: [code:1]dir d: /s /b >"c:\index\disknameORdate.txt"[/code:1]
you only need " around lines with spaces in it.

Will list your d drive (assuming that is your dvd) and drop it in a folder called c:\index on your c: Drive.

This will create a file for each disk and you would need to use windows search to search inside those files.

If you follow my recommendation about naming the root folder in the DVD you can generate a complete index in one file.

I suggest you just have a play with it and you will work out its limitations.

Cool, thanks.. thought it would be something like that.

Could you also explain how to do it to someone who has no idea what "from the command line", "dir /s /b >mydisk.txt to drop the file in the DIR you run it in" etc means.

start>run the type "cmd" <enter>

gives you a command window like old dos.

youll probably find youreself in c"\documents and settings\username

"cd/" will take you to c:

"d:" will take you to the defautl dvd drive (or whatever other letter it is for you)

"dir /b /s >c:\dvdindex.txt will write the results to a file on the c: drive which you can then go and look at from a normal window and you can open with excel if you want to start using that. Theres HEAPS you can do in excel/access but i cant explain it in here.

to answer your specific question if you enter >index.txt it will try top create the file index.txt in the folder that you run that command in. In this case it is a DVD and it might have difficulty creating the file as the dvd may be read only at that time.

second that from this quarter

Yes, this is the case - they're all on DVD. How do I get it to put the info in a text file or the clipboard so I can then paste into excel etc? Any easyish method?

Ta for the info.

dir > c:\file.txt

basically you're just adding a path to a writeable spot. replace c:\ with wherever you'd like file to go

as he said in here:

OK, I'll clarify as my top posts obviously didn't make it entirely clear. Assume I don't know any of these commands at all.

What you just posted means almost nothing to me. So I...
- put a DVD in (which is full of files)
- go to start/run
- type: dir /b /s >c:\dvdindex.txt (exactly as written here or not?)
- then ?



Can you tell me exactly what to type (for desktop for example). Do I type desktop:\file.txt ?

Also: will it show the contents of sub-folders on the DVD?

desktop is special Rob
a bit like you heheh

desktop = "c:\Documents and Settings\username\desktop"

where username = your login name on the machine.
I'm assuming you're on XP too actually.

To do what you're describing, I'm going to make some assumptions:

1) that your DVD drive is D:
2) That you're using XP, and your user name is RobW

Insert DVD, Start > Run > cmd

dir D: /s > "c:\Documents and Settings\RobW\Desktop\filename.txt"

Thanks.. This is what I was after. I don't sprakenz ze DOS.

Just a thought.

As Kris said, You might be better not using the /b as it will then give you the date of that file and depending on the way your cd burning software created it you will be able to see when that folder was burnt to the disk. You'll need to check that the folder creation dates are the same as the day you burnt the disk or it wont help you find which disk it came from.

If you want to add all the records to one file so you can search in that file youll need to use >> instead of >

[code:1]dir D: /s >"c:\Documents and Settings\RobW\Desktop\filename.txt"
dir D: /s >>"c:\Documents and Settings\RobW\Desktop\filename.txt"[/code:1]

you could also import into excel using space delimited cells so it will put the date in one cell file name in the other. google to find out how

my flatmate has prepared this for y'all using movies as his search criterion:



HOW TO GENERATE A LIST OF MOVIE TITLES FROM A HARD DRIVE



1. navigate in DOS mode to the target drive & folder containing all your movies

2. create in DOS mode a .txt file containing all your movie titles

3. use Excel to edit the .txt file





1. Navigating to the target drive & folder

Click on Start -> Run.. and type "cmd" then press <enter>

(or go to Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt)

From the command line, type X: where x is the name of the drive containing the movies



Use the command CD “xxxxx” where xxxxx is the name of the folder containing your movies (CD stands for Change Directory). You might have to do that several times, navigating from the root of the drive to your main folder to the next sub folder.



For example if your movies are on your drive F: in the folder My Stuff, subfolder All My Movies, you have to type in sequence ([space] indicates a space character, and the quotation marks " are important if your folders contain spaces):

F: <enter>

CD[space]“My Stuff” <enter>

CD[space]“All My Movies” <enter>





2. Creating a .txt file containing all the movie titles

In the same command prompt as above type:

dir[space]/s[space]/b[space]>mymovies.txt (to create a .txt file in the same directory your movies are)

or

dir[space]/s[space]/b[space]>c:\mymovies.txt (to create the .txt file on another drive, such as your hard drive C:}

Notes:

. avoid creating a txt file name with more than 8 characters

. avoid creating a txt file name with space characters in it

. use quotation marks " around line with spaces in it if you have to

. using >> instead of > will append (add to) the previous file but you might want to keep separate files





3. Using Excel to edit the .txt file

Open Excel, go to File -> Open… and browse to the drive containing the .txt file created previously. Select and open this .txt file

Note: You might have to change “Files of Type” to “All Files” (last line, bottom of the Open pop-up window) to see this .txt file.

A pop-up window “Text Open Wizard” should open. Choose the following:

Step 1: for Data Type: delimited <next>

Step 2: untick “Tab”, tick “Other” and put a \ in the box <next>

Step 3: click on <finish>

A new Excel file is now created, containing several columns.

Select and delete the irrelevant columns (containing “F:”, “My Stuff” or “All My Movies”) to keep only the movie titles.