Comments on: Quick Update: Paperless Office

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:28:38 +0000

What about Paperport Pro. I’ve been using it for years.

By: Minimize the Magazine Mess « Legal Andrew

Minimize the Magazine Mess « Legal Andrew — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:14:25 +0000

[...] When you find articles you really want to save, clip them out. Drop them in a scanner (like the ScanSnap), and you’ll have them forever. 1’s and 0’s take up a lot less [...]

By: historydoll

historydoll — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:08:39 +0000

Thanks for the info. I have yet to receive any kind of reply from them, unfortunately. I basically told them I was sick of wasting time fussing with it and I wanted my money back and my data erased, but to date they have not responded.

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:49:28 +0000

@historydoll – Mozy assures me that the problem is only affecting a few people. Evidently you and I both fall into that category. They said they are working on an update, but so far they seem to be confused as to the source of the problem and keep asking me to do silly changes on my computer that will obviously have no effect on the problem.

By: historydoll

historydoll — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:14:45 +0000

FWIW, I have also been trying to run Mozy on the Mac, and having similar problems.

By: Barbara Blackwell

Barbara Blackwell — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:44:15 +0000

Mark, here’s the link to Rack2File http://www.ipaperlessoffice.com/ratdesoforma.html

I found out this company was purchased by Fujitsu. I still have yet to actually invest attention in it. I liked the thought of perfectly arranged digital notebooks (you’ll see in the video) but in the very few minutes I have played, it seems like more work than it’s worth. It is a pain to open, close digital documents when I’m trying to chase down an item in multiple months of statements so being able to “turn a page” versus, find, open, close, etc. appealed to me. I really used to like the ability to drop a page/pdf file onto another in visioneer’s old program and have it merge into one document….. wish Fujitsu/Abbyy did that. Next time I find a few moments to give Rack2File an honest workout, I’ll report back.

Another alternative to document management is Mindmanager. I’ve built reference trees and the application allows me to “drop” actual files from windows explorer on to a tree to create a hotlink. It’s one way to avoid having to create a file hierarchy. http://www.mindmanager.com

Finally – I bought RecentX ( http://www.conceptworld.com/) as a tool to tame my ever increasing “file this somewhere/someday” directory. It performs a rapid search through file names, folders, websites but does not do content. I’m not sure which approach will ultimately be my solution: Well-organized File Hierchary or One enormous drive with incredible search tools!

By: John Byrne

John Byrne — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:51:53 +0000

Mark- Kixzo is a windows solution. and I see what you mean that it goes one way.

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:17:44 +0000

@John Byrne – It looks like KIXZO is a windows solution from my brief look at your site. Is that true or is it cross platform and I missed it?

Also DevonThink does a great job of letting you keep things in folders and creating a hierarchy. It will even let you sync to a folder and replicate the hierarchy in your DevonThink Database. The problem is that this sync doesn’t seem to be two way. If you change something in your file system it will show up in DeveonThink, but not the other way around.

@Barbara – I’m not on the pro version so I don’t think I can call tech support. I’m also using a mac and they are still testing the Beta version and isn’t offered on the pro side. The tech support on the non-pro side doesn’t seem particularly good as they all keep emailing me back asking me to try the same thing over and over again and then saying “It looks like we’ve solved your problem” right after I email them to say it still isn’t working.

Hopefully they will get the problem fixed soon and I can actually try it out. So far I haven’t been able to backup more than about 20 megs at a time before it times out.

By: John Byrne

John Byrne — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:08:53 +0000

I see that you are having problems with accepting not being able to keep a hiarchy. Our software, KIXZO, does allow for that. Also you comment that Devon is hard to understand. Our software has easy to understand “rooms”. The program works with any twain compatible scanner. Checks us out.

By: Barbara Blackwell

Barbara Blackwell — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:14:44 +0000

Mark – try calling their tech support – they’re fantastic. I’ve got a home account and a professional account. We’re backing up 7-10GB night without a hitch, with a nice confirmation email arriving every morning. They store 30 days and we’ve already pulled a restore without a struggle. Their support department was excellent when I struggled with upgrading my original account.

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:00:51 +0000

@Barbara – I’ve been trying Mozy, but I keep getting a “ConnectionError1″. So far I’m not very impressed. I’m glad to hear it is working for you. I did a search for “Rack 2 File”, but couldn’t find anything on Google. I’d like to check it out.

By: Barbara Blackwell

Barbara Blackwell — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:56:13 +0000

Hi Mark,
I’m working on the same project – bought two Scansnaps, one for work, one for home and have been cheerfully scanning/shredding away. I have set my hard drive up for nightly online backup with mozypro. ( http://www.mozypro.com )

I’ll have to check out the DEVONThink, been playing with Rack-2-file trial that came with the last Scansnap. Currently, I have replicated my paper filing heirarchy digitally and just move the scanned document from the scansnap desktop into the right folder.

I’m investigating either setting up an FTP link from a home machine to my office or some type of online file storage to allow some privacy and access from my office.

I have to say I am really appreciating the ability to pull up my digital documents IMMEDIATELY versus pulling paper files manually.

Keep up the great work – I really enjoy your writing!

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:22:14 +0000

@StockKevin – Some of the original posts talk about backup options.

@Michael – At this point I’m trying to replace my filing cabinet. It is almost entirely loose sheets of paper. I still have my Canon flatbed scanner, but I haven’t needed it since purchasing the ScanSnap.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:12:44 +0000

I went to have a look at the scanner you talk about in the article, and I noticed it is not a flatbed scanner. While it seems very useful for loose paper, how do you deal with, say, an image in a book?
It seems you would need two different scanners, one for books and the other for loose paper documents. I’m an interior designer and I couldn’t do without a flatbed, because I often use references from magazines and books.
This thing puzzles me a little..

For the rest, nice blog, been following it in a while :)

By: StockKevin

StockKevin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:45:40 +0000

Paperless?! Make sure you back up your files.

It’ll be interesting to see your final set up. Good luck!