Most people realize the computer is a great device for storage. Unfortunately, many neglect to take advantage of the PC's terrific organizational features or the many applications that can make organization a simple task.

Recently, I've been converting some of my old LPs-- vinyl records-- to CD. As I started this task I quickly became aware that I had no idea of what I already had on CD, and I was running the risk of duplicating something already converted or purchased. The only way to find out was to actually look at my collection, a rather long and drawn out process, especially if your CDs are not alphabetized or organized in some other logical fashion where they are stored.

Further, friends often ask me if I have a specific song by a particular artist. Given that my LP collection alone spans well over 300 albums dating back to the 1960s, it's not always easy to remember. In my never-ending quest to bring order out of chaos, I sought to find an application to make the task of organization and finding specific songs by specific artists easy.

I had a few additional requirements. First, it had to be able to download album information from the Internet so I wouldn't have to input information manually. Second, I wanted it to be able to download album information for my LPs. I was only able to fulfill one of my two requirements but, in baseball, that's a .500 average.

I found several such applications specifically designed for CDs. Most however, either had an interface that was too busy or just plain made organization or view-at-a-glance next to impossible. Further, some weren't very good at picking up the necessary information from a CD-R disk in order to download the album information.

It also should be remembered, this particular feature is only as strong as the online database the application uses to ferret out such information. Nonetheless, two stood out for ease of use and clean interface. One uses the popular CDDB online music database and the other uses freedb, also popular but not quite as robust.

CD Trustee combined ease of use with sophistication and it's feature rich. In addition to the ability to download album information, you can print jewel case inserts and/or CD album covers directly from the application interface. It uses the CDDB online music database and it had no trouble with my CD-Rs. That was something which appeared to be an issue with a few other applications of this type that simply refused to recognize a disk was even in the drive.

CD Trustee lists your albums in the main screen, using an expanded list motif for listing the tracks on the album much the same as you expand or collapse folders and sub-folders in Windows Explorer. The Interface is clean and album details and search functions are extremely robust yet simple to use. Of the 34 CDs I tested, some commercial CDs and some on CD-R, only 4 were not found in the CDDB database.

In such cases where the information isn't in the database you can input data manually. With such a good response percentage, that shouldn't present too great a chore. If you know the name of an album and it's not in the database you can always go to Amazon.com or some other retail site and get a list of tracks on the album to help facilitate manual input of information. This application also has strong report functions allowing you to see and print groups of information you might need.

This is a terrific application for this purpose. CD Trustee is $29.95 and you can get a $10.00 discount by e-mailing at least 5 friends about CD Trustee or by mentioning CD Trustee (and the web address www.base40.com ) on a public forum or Web site and e-mailing what you did to the address mentioned in the purchase instructions at the site.

The other application I tested was one I already owned but had not seriously considered for this purpose. For several years I've been using Advanced Disk Catalog for the purpose of organizing my data disks. This is a terrific application for the purpose of keeping track of where your files reside and on what disks. It has saved my bacon more than once when I deleted some old file from my hard drive only to find I later needed it. I simply opened the application and did a find for the file and it searched its database of all my disks.

Advanced Disk Catalog has the ability to organize your audio CDs as well but activating this feature is not intuitive. The few times I had made the attempt to use it for this purpose in the past led to nothing more than numbered tracks being listed.

Upon closer investigation at the Elcomsoft web site mentioned above, I was able to determine it does support the feature but it didn't really explain how to turn it on which is one reason why I'd recommend CD Trustee over an application I already own. Nonetheless, once I found how to implement the function, Advanced Disk Catalog was as easy to use as CD Trustee.

To be fair, activating the feature was easy once I knew how to do it. Open the application, go to Options and select Setup. Go to the Scan tab, select "Extract CDDB (freedb) info for Audio CDs" and click Setup freedb. That's it but if you don't know where to look, it's easy to miss.

Advanced Disk Catalog also has a clean interface, but instead of listing albums and tracks in one pane, the albums are listed in the left pane and when an album is selected, the tracks are listed in the right pane. Of the 34 albums I tested, only 5 was it unable to find in the freedb database. It had no trouble recognizing my CD-Rs and it as with CD Trustee, allows for manual input of information.

Again, that option is not as intuitive in this application as it is with CD Trustee. Instead of opening a properties box that is easy to access almost without thinking in CD Trustee you need to right click a track and select "Edit comments" in Advanced Disk Catalog. Again, if you already know that (and now you do) it's no problem but for someone unfamiliar with the application it can be a little confusing.

Advanced Disk Catalog does not have the ability to print jewel case inserts or album covers. If you have some other application for that purpose such as some CD burning software that might include such a feature that's not a problem but should be a consideration if it's an option you need but a function you lack. Its search functions are probably equal to CD Trustee but as is the case with so much else with Advanced Disk Catalog it is nowhere near as easy to use or as intuitive.

At the outset it should be understood, Advanced Disk Catalog was designed primarily as a data disk organizer and it is very strong at that function. There is also something to be said for having all that information, both data disks and audio CDs in one place. I would recommend making it a separate file within the application, other than that data and audio will be mixed and it won't be as easy to see your albums at a glance. Advanced Disk Catalog is $20.00.

If I have one complaint about all applications of this type, aside from the lack of ability to download information for my LPs it is the lack of "Views." I'd like to see a few view options and a view menu on the toolbar that would allow quick display of a few major categories or view types rather than always having to do a search. This is a small gripe and I'm sure many would then disagree about what views should be listed.

***Note: It really would have been a help in organizing LPs if I could have performed a search for an album by manually inputting album search criteria from within the application and then have the information downloaded to it much the same as happens with a CD in the drive.

I corresponded with CD Trustee developer, Mike Paulick, about the LP search issue. Because the turntable is not integrated with your PC nor is the information on it digital, such a function would require a specific search for the album by title. Mike informed me the people at CDDB only allow programmers outside their company to access their database as a result of inserting a CD in a drive. Trying to access in any other way is against their licensing agreement. Mike was very gracious and answered all my questions.

Aside from CDs, two areas almost always overlooked by users with regard to organization are passwords and application serial numbers and/or keys. After awhile, writing them down on a legal pad or small pieces of paper or "Post-It" notes just won't make it anymore.

Whenever I get a new application, if the CD didn't come in a jewel case, I put it in one and I always print an insert that includes any pertinent data, CD-Keys, application serial numbers, whatever I need to install and use the application. Still, it's nice to have all this information in one place.

Years ago I began with various freeware password organizers. None really filled all my needs. After some searching and a lot of testing I settled on Password Agent from Moon Software. Password Agent uses an Explorer like interface, with folders in the left pane and titles, accounts, passwords and links in the right pane.

Links is a handy feature, it allows an easy way to keep track of where things are located on the Internet and they are part of the properties of each item you set up. I use Password Agent to keep track of all my passwords, CD keys, serial numbers, etc. and everything is in one place, separated into categories by folders and sub-folders in the folder list. This is an easy to use program and allows you to print and create reports listing your passwords or whatever else you decide to keep in this useful application.

I recommend doing exactly that, at least if you are in a single user situation. You see, you most often need your passwords, CD keys and serial numbers after you've formatted your hard drive and if you've yet to restore your backup, you can't access the information. However, if you've printed up the pertinent information and put it in a notebook or some other safe place, you can access all your information. I'm recommending this application as an organizational device, not specifically for security, but you can password protect your information in this application; just don't forget your password.

Password Agent is $14.95 and well worth it for the trouble it can save you.

All applications mentioned here have trial versions available and I do suggest you test before you buy to be sure they meet your needs. Organization doesn't come naturally but these applications help with some of the major tasks and have been quite useful to me.