Briggs AnalyticsFree tool · Engineering and design firms
Find your old files before they get thrown out
Twenty years of engineering work rarely lives in one place. Tick where your old files might be and get a map of your history, plus a list of the old formats to save while you can still open them.
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How this works
Four steps, about as many minutes.
- Tick everywhere old work might live.
- Tell us roughly which years each place covers.
- Pick the software versions you used over the years.
- Get a map of your history and a step-by-step rescue list.
The oldest work is usually the most at risk
The newest drawings sit in today's vault. The work from fifteen years ago sits on a server in a closet, a backup drive in a desk, or a former engineer's laptop that nobody wiped. That is also the work most likely to be thrown out in the next office move, and often the most interesting, because it shows how the company's designs developed from the start.
This finder does not touch any of it. It helps you make a list of where to look, what years each place probably covers, and in what order to rescue it.
Old formats are the hidden deadline
Files saved in a CAD version from 2008 open fine as long as you have software that reads them. Many tools still open old files, but some old formats and old vault databases need the original software or a conversion step. If you pick the versions your team used, the list flags which ones to convert or copy first.
What not to do
Don't wipe or recycle any old machine until someone has checked what is on it. Don't copy files in a way that loses their dates if you can avoid it, since dates are how anyone tells a 2006 drawing from a 2026 one.
Questions about this tool.
We moved servers twice. Is the old stuff gone?
Often not. Teams usually copy the old server to the new one, or keep the old drive "just in case." The finder helps you list where to check.
Do old CAD versions still open?
Many current tools open older files, but some very old formats and vault databases need the original software or a conversion. Check before the last machine with that software is retired.
Should we convert everything to PDF?
No. Keep the native files. A PDF loses the model and the history that make the archive worth looking at.
What if the files are on backup tapes?
A local IT shop can usually read common tape formats for a fee. List the tapes and their dates first so you know what you are paying to recover.
See what your company's records could be worth.
Costs you nothing · five quick questions · about a minute · no files
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