List files not in alphabetical order?

I've got 25 separate files of cartoons in a directory that are listed alphabetically, naturally. I want to place them in another temp directory in my preferred order. I suppose a DVD burning program will let me do that before I burn the files to DVD. However, I'd like to have them in my preferred order on my HD. Previously, I would have to laboriously put the numbers 1. 2. 3. in front of each title to have them listed in my preferred order.

Is there a way to force Explorer not to list them in alphabetical order in that temp directory that I want to move them to, without putting the numbers 1.(filename) 2.(filename) 3.(filename) etc. before each file name to have them in my preferred order and not listed alphabetically by file name?

There is a way to get Explorer to arrange items freely, however Windows has no mechanism to save the customised order.

So, no. You can’t really arrange items in any arbitrary order you like, you’ll have to do something hack-y like set the access dates as required and sort by that.

Caslon said:

I've got 25 separate files of cartoons in a directory that are listed alphabetically, naturally. I want to place them in another temp directory in my preferred order. I suppose a DVD burning program will let me do that before I burn the files to DVD. However, I'd like to have them in my preferred order on my HD. Previously, I would have to laboriously put the numbers 1. 2. 3. in front of each title to have them listed in my preferred order.

Is there a way to force Explorer not to list them in alphabetical order in that temp directory that I want to move them to, without putting the numbers 1.(filename) 2.(filename) 3.(filename) etc. before each file name to have them in my preferred order and not listed alphabetically by file name?

Files are not stored in any order on any filesystem,
Files are shown in a specific order, depending on the viewing application (Windows Explorer)

These are some options however, in Windows explorer :
- The fields shown in Windows Explorer are actually configurable. Right click on one of the field headers, and select/deselect any field. Maybe you can order on any of these fields ?
- Dates can be an easy way to sort files: Open each file in the wanted order, and each same save the file. But, wait at least 1 minute between each save. Then sort on date