Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but this would just be a MovieT with all your movies in it and a file location field in that table, wouldn't it? You can Search Form 2.0 any fields in the MovieT to easily find which movie you're looking for, and then you just have the file location stored there. You could even make a button next to your file location field to open directly to that folder location to go right to the movie. How you store the videos outside of Access is up to you, and unless I'm missing something (like you want the location to be automatically filled out or something), then it wouldn't affect the database.

Yes, you understand the issue, and what you suggest is what I said in option 1, with the minor difference that I mentioned using a different table to include the file path because some very long paths contain many files, and that long text doesn't need to be replicated in each file table entry.

Option 2 is more complex because each level in the path would be its own entry in a folder table.   For example in the following file path 'K:\CHILDREN\DISNEY\TOY STORY"  In option 1 this would be a single folder entry (minus the drive letter), but in option 2 this would be 3 folder entries for CHILDREN, DISNEY,  and TOY STORY, with each also having an entry in a junction table with the folder below it in the path hierarchy.   This way I could look for the DISNEY folder and get a list of all folders and files that are present in just that directory.    In option 1 all the folders exist as a complete path string, so it would require far more effort to find what exists in just the DISNEY folder under the CHILDREN folder.  Whew.

My method is to store video files in numeric folder names, then store those numbers in my Access table.  See picture below.  I handle physical optical discs the same way: I write the number on the disc surface, and store the number in Access.  I have thousands of TV recordings that are stored with this simple numeric scheme.

Note that I don't put show titles in the Windows file explorer.  I put them in my Access database.  When I search for titles, I search them in Access.  That's what a database is for.  I don't look for titles in Windows Explorer.  Therefore, all folder names can just be numeric codes, thus simplifying storage greatly.

Hi Gary
Kevin's is better than mine. I created an Access database with a PickFile to locate my video, text, clip etc and also added with shellex the ability to play it from Access. I added a topic index and notes which can be searched so if I find a topic that matches my search I can double click and play or see the video, jpg or text or whatever else it is. I did it to be more responsive with the Forum but Kevin is much faster on the draw and has better forum responses that I do (he is lots smarter), so go with his advice.
HTH
John
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Kevin, I like your design but it wouldn't fit in with the way I envision my database working.   I envision two rows of controls at the top of a search form.   Each has a radio button that enables that row or the other.  One row has a single textbox to perform a file search that returns matching files along with the full folder path.   The second row contains several combo boxes positioned across the top of the forms list area..  The first combo has a list of dropdowns representing all the folders off the root directory.   With a root folder selected, the next combo fills with folder names that exist off the selected root folder, along with any files that are present in that folder   This continues with additional combos until the last folder in the path is selected.    Of course, it may be better just to have a single combo and some Up/Down arrows, and a updated path string showing the current selected folder depth in the path.   In either case, as the folder is selected in the combo the list portion of the form would fill with file names located in that path location.

With either of the views selected, I would like to print a report showing the currently displayed information.

Access Developer 31 covers Files and Folders.

My point is you should organize your titles, categories, Disney, children's movies, etc. EVERYTHING with Access, instead of using  Windows file structure to do so.  Instead of making a Children folder, Disney subfolder, etc. in Windows Explorer, set up a Children category and Disney category *in your Access tables*.  In other words, you don't care how your files are stored in Windows Explorer, because *Access doesn't*.  Access uses whatever logic you created to search and organize your files.  What do you think would do a better job organizing your stuff: Access or Windows Explorer?  My bet is on Access, because a database is solely designed to organize data.

Kevin, let me start at the beginning and maybe then you'll get a better understanding of what the intent of my database is.   First off, it's not to just keep track of all my DVD / Blu-ray disks.  I already have an Access database for that.   The new database will have a very targeted purpose; to let me know where a particular video file exists in the myriad of folders on my external USB drive.

My external drive has more than 4,400 movie and TV episode videos located somewhere in 414 folders and subfolders.   The database will exist solely to let me search for a named video, and it will return the folder paths of all matching videos.   Conversely, I may want to ask what video files and sub folders exist in a specific folder path.  

The root folders on the drive are named for different movie genres.   The sub folders under that hold movies and TV shows that fall under that genre.   As you can clearly see, the intent of the database is to virtualize the file and folder structure of my external USB drive.

I use the DOS command below to list all files in a folder and all its subfolders, then export the result to a text file:

   dir /s /b "C:\MyFolder" /p > "D:\My Documents\filelist.txt"

The result will have all the files and their full paths in one big list.  E.g.:

G:\MyFolder\60mins\60mins_1.wmv
G:\MyFolder\60mins\60mins_2.wmv
G:\MyFolder\60mins\aishletterman.mpg
G:\MyFolder\60mins\cbs60_intro.wmv
G:\MyFolder\60mins\nightline1_218bits.wmv
G:\MyFolder\60mins\nightline2_218bits.wmv
G:\MyFolder\a4\Recovered File 001.avi
G:\MyFolder\aa\01.mpeg
G:\MyFolder\aa\01.mpg
G:\MyFolder\aa\02.mpg
Etc.

You can then import all of this to Access in one go.  If your goal is getting all file paths, this will help you.

Yes, that's exactly how I was planning on importing the full path information into Access.   The question then is how to organize the Access database to let me search for matching file names, or search for files and folders that exist under a specified folder.

My first thought is to save the database in a single table with separate fields for: "Filename No Extension", "Friendly Filename", "Full Path without Filename or Drive Letter".    To search for a file, simply enter the name into a text box and do a query on either the Filename or Friendly Filename.   A continuous form would display all matching names and their path.    To do a path search I envision a large label and an arrow button next to a dropdown combo box.    At first, the combo box is filled with all the folders in the root directory.   Selecting a folder transfers that to the label and fills the combo box with all the folder names that exist under that folder, and also fills the continuous form with all the files that exist in that sub folder.   And so on.   The button would let you back up a level in the displayed path.

Any ideas or suggestions?

You can again use the DOS command to do all of that.  E.g.:

List all file names among all subfolders that begin with "dvd":     dir dvd* /s /b
List all file names among all subfolders that contain "dvd":     dir *dvd* /s /b
List all folder names among all subfolders that contain "dvd":     dir *dvd* /a:d /s /b