help needed to organise masses of photo files

There are many ways to do this and it all will be time consuming.

I would do this,

1st Goto the folder where all the photos are and search everything buy *.* in search box and select all then right click copy or Cut (Copy will use more space, Cut will move them)
2nd go back and create a Folder and Paste.

It will then Copy or Move to the folder and everything that has been doubled will cause a prompt to overwrite or duplicate. Feel free to choose, but if your camera has been reset and has started the same numbers again you will LOOSE the photos..

Then once u wait for the files to be moved on this window press "Windows key + left arrow" and then open another folder to the new place of your photos that are to be sorted and (Windows + right), make the pictures to a larger size and start to sort.....

Dupe detector sounds like a good idea. Use "Irfanview" to logically rename the files and organize them.

Hi see if this shows you ways to sort by and arrange by options,
File and Folder Arrangement - Group by - Sort by - Arrange by

In your case sort by Name
Group by Date or date created might serve well,
Duplicates will usually always have a (2) or (3) on the end of the names,
Unless as stated if your camera started the name/ numbering again
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Advanced-tips-for-searching-in-Windows

Any way that you choose will take time and effort.

Here's some ideas:

Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition (free) will enable you to import photos from anywhere on your hard drive or from external devices and organize them. You can rename, edit and tag photos as well as group them into collections leaving the originals in place.

Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition Free Download

It takes a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it - it's easy.

As for duplicates (photos, folders or files) one of the better duplicate finders that I've used is Digital Volcano's Duplicate Cleaner (free):

Duplicate Cleaner - Features

The free version does have a duplicate image search function but some features in the free version are limited. I've found that the free version has always met my requirements.

If you want to read many other opinions maybe read this thread on another forum:

How do you store and organize your photos, because I need help! - CNET Digital photography & design software Forums

Just came across this free software:

Namexif

Assuming that photos were taken with a digital camera it renames the images according to the date and time they were taken. From there it should be easy to organize them.