For the storing part I would recommend using a well structured directory tree that is identical across projects. This takes discipline to set-up and use, but really pays of later when you need to find a file, or show hand-over a project to someone else.
To keep it all accessible I would recommend Total Commander with the uLister plugin and the voidtools Everything search application.
- Total commander is a highly customizable two pane file manager and will allow you to create a hotlist of all your projects.
- uLister is a plugin for Total Commander and allows you to preview all kinds of files, including office documents, images, zip files, pdf's and outlook e-mails (.msg files). If uLister does not support a filetype, there are many other preview plugins that probably do.
- Everything is a file indexer that allows Total Commander to search files by (part of) their name very quickly.
It's not a 1 click solution, it will take you half a day to setup initially, it will take you several days to tweak and get used to, but after that you will have a highly streamlined file management system that will increase your productivity.