How do you store your photos?

[Arctirus]

I have a photos folder and under that a photo for every year, under those a folder named first with a date then a very brief description. I copy the entire contents of the root folder onto an external usb harddrive which I store at work. Even if the house burns down I still have all my photos.

[another view]

I create a separate folders for a shoot or session with a filename like "20050112_Stuff". This may be images from one card or several. That way it sorts by date and I have an idea what's in the folder without having to open it. Then that folder will go in "2005_Images" in my external hard drive. Tip: Make sure it's USB 2.0 or Firewire, or set a good book by the computer that you can read while it's transferring data with USB 1.1. ;) I'll also burn a copy to CD in case both get wiped out (like it did recently). I don't usually keep much on the internal drive.

I'm not sure how to automatically re-name each of the files but taking time to do a few here and there would get it done, and you'd maybe have an easier time of finding a shot later.