I have two plastic storage tubs of old computer gear and cables I'm not currently using. I was digging through it all tonight looking for a spare DVI cable and ran across several other things I'd be needing (switch and a couple 4 foot Cat 5 cables). So it's not like I'm hauling it all around to no effect.

However, I need to organize it all to at least know what I have.

The stuff falls in a couple major categories:
1) Manuals
2) Boxes for big purchases (broken down and flattened)
3) Cables and adaptors (e.g. HDMI, SVGA, SVGA to DVI adaptors, phone cords, etc.)
4) Old computer internals (one or two are sentimental, my Voodoo 3 2000 for example, but most are old drives and cards that probably won't be useful in the future)
5) A shoebox of spare screws, nuts, etc. (anything left over from assembling a computer, really).

I don't care if I have an exact inventory of everything, just knowing that I *might* have a spare HDMI cable and if I did it would be *in this location* would be good enough.

The manuals I can relocate in file folders in my cleaned out filing cabinet. The boxes can probably be tossed, if I don't know what the part is anymore having the box to remind me probably won't help as the part is worthless.

How would you go about organizing huge piles of random cables, adaptors, and the few useful parts so you could find them without emptying two whole boxes? I hate re-buying these things when I know I've had dozens go unused over the years. Also, I would be happy if it packed and unpacked more easily than a jigsaw puzzle.

I have an audio/video box for everything from DVI/VGA adapters and 3.5mm audio cables to headphones and television antenna cables go, one power cable box for power splitters, cables, and transformers/chargers, and one misc box filled with various peripherals and data cables (mice, zip drives, IDE, Ethernet, and phone cables...). Then there are a couple smaller boxes with stuff that would get lost in the large ones; SATA cables, USB/Firewire backpanels, RAM sticks... as well as a box for old parts I don't actually have a use for and might very well be broken; graphics and audio cards, CPUs, motherboards...

It's not very ordered, but I can quickly tell in which box I should dig for what I'm looking for.

Screws and mechanics are in my toolbox, mostly.

I keep my computer screws, clips, and whatever with my computer stuff, mostly because that's what they fit and that's all they're good for. Likewise all my leftover screws from woodworking or whatever would be essentially useless for computers.

Maybe I just need to swap stuff around so like goes with like rather than what fits goes into the box it fits in. I need to recycle around half of it, somehow I have like 6 Sytek keyboards for some reason, and many, many cards/sticks of RAM that will be useless for here on out (unless someone knows a valid use for EDO RAM).

Cut in two and have a unique keyring? Or send them to me if you have any 32MB sticks, I could max the memory in one of my old Macs.

Oh, and I have two or three Model M keyboards (among others), pity I don't have a PS/2 port.