If you don't like reading these posts, just switch off. Alright?

Here's the thing: I have so many files of all sorts, and my personal discipline at the keyboard is lamentable, so the result is copies of this, copies of that, edited copies of that photo of Aunt Mildred, etc., distributed over several drives.

Every now and then, and on this occasion because my desktop PC burned out and I had to save a lot of stuff from it, I am forced to organise everything in order to save a single copy of each file on an external storage device.

Any recommendations on how to do this, with all the problems I am sure you know it entails?

As a man from new Jersey would say "Forgeddabouti"

I use Backblaze, for £4 a month it sits in the background of my PC and backs up everything. Download a new file? the backblaze scan will pick up that it's a new file and back it up.

Ok this means you'll have an equally messy number of copies and near copies of files backed up in the cloud but you wont even have to think about it.

It's unlimited as well. I currently have a fraction under 200 gig backed up, available to access from any device, at any time, and if i really want they will burn it all to a USB stick for me and post it. (for a small fee).