Student data storage

Saving your work

4 Methods of storage

1. Personal drive (H Drive)

Known as the H:\ drive, which is your own personal storage space allocated by the university. The personal storage space assigned to each student is 1GB. It can be seen with all its files using Windows Explorer.

If new files make the total of the data on the H: drive go over 1GB, they will not be saved or copied, and warning messages will appear.

It is recommended that you always save your work to this H: drive.

How to access the H: \drive:

  • It can be accessed from all UWE computers on campus.
  • If you are in a UWE Hall of residence, you can access it via ResNet (the Student Residential Network).
  • If you are at home, you can access it via XA (Xternal Access) system.
  • If you are on campus with your laptop, you can connect wirelessly to the UWE network via NetPlus.

To see how much space you have left on your H: drive, go to My Computer. Under the section Network Drives, right hand mouse click on home (H:).

Choose the Properties option. You will see a gauge showing the used and free home drive space.

2. Microsoft SkyDrive

SkyDrive is a good place for storing large documents and backing up your work.

All students using UWE Live Mail can use Skydrive.

How to use SkyDrive?

1. use your web browser to go to skydrive.live.com

2. log in with your UWE Live Mail account

What does SkyDrive offer?

SkyDrive is part of UWE Live Mail.

The service currently offers 25GB of free online storage. You can access this storage from anywhere online. The maximum file size limit is currently 50MB.

SkyDrive can also be used to share documents with other people or the public, as well as storing personal files such as photos, videos and music.

Office Web Apps on SkyDrive are now available to everyone in the UK.

3. Blackboard Content System

Blackboard provides a personal storage area accessible from the Blackboard Content Collection tab. All students have an allocation of 40Mb of storage space for the purpose of storing assignments and GDP materials for use in Blackboard. However, it is not intended for long term general data storage. Guidance for students is available on the Blackboard support web site

4. Removable medias

eg CD Roms, USB Memory sticks

These are our least favoured methods of saving work. Therefore they need to be used with caution.

Which of these are available to you will depend on the type of PC you are using.

Blank CDs and memory sticks can be purchased from the Student Shop near Nat West Bank on the Frenchay Campus.

CD Roms

CDs are a cheap and relatively reliable way to make backups of your work.

There are 2 main options available: CD-R and CD-RW. The difference between the two is that you can only write/save once on a CD-R. You can erase and rewrite up to about 1000 times with a CD-RW. If you use your CD for daily backups, it should last about 3 years.

However, you need to ensure that you do not misplace the CD. For ease of retrieving your work, it may be useful to label the CD with the date of your backup, and store it in a safe and cool place.

Not all UWE computers have a CD Rom drive. Look out for Disk Stations in the libraries. They are used to transfer your work from the computer, which you are working on, to a CD.

USB memory sticks

Most USB memory sticks work on UWE computers. However, a few don’t, as IT Services cannot install drivers for every type of USB devices.

USB memory sticks are particularly useful for transporting documents between computers.

Nevertheless, it is not recommended as the primary working area for saving your work. If not removed properly from a computer, its content may become unusable.

Housekeeping

Students are expected to housekeep the work that they keep on the H: drive.

This can include the following:

  • Compressing the files to reduce their size
  • Reducing graphics size, by reducing colours, changing the file format etc.
  • Removing all unnecessary files.

Best practices for saving your work

Do’s

  • Save your work as you work on it. Don’t wait until you have finished the document. Typically, if you are working on a document or spreadsheet for a long time you should save your work at least every 15 minutes or so.
  • Use the Save As function (File/Save As) every time you save your work so that you save to the correct location with your chosen file name eg your H: drive. Don’t just use the Save icon.
  • Save a copy of your important files (eg your assignments) to more than one location. In IT jargon, this is called backing up. We recommend that you save to your H: drive AND backup your work to another location (a reliable CD, a memory stick or SkyDrive).
  • Files becoming corrupt, CD-Rs or memory sticks being damaged on the day of a hand-in, is not unknown. It’s your assignment, your file and your responsibility. Having a copy in another location is a simple way to protect your files and prevent you from the trauma of having to start your assignment all over again.
  • If you are using a memory stick, we recommend that you ‘cut’ and ‘paste’ within Windows Explorer.
  • The habit of backing up should scale with the importance of the work you are carrying out. If you modify your work file once a day, then you should backup every 2 to 3 days. If you are working constantly on an assignment for 5 to 6 hours a day, you should backup every day.

When saving personal or confidential data, please do take into consideration the Data Protection Act and the UWE Data Security Policy

Don’ts

  • Do not use ZIP disks. They can be damaged by strong magnetic fields such as speakers, mobile phones, magnets in handbags etc…
  • Do not work directly on an attachment in any e-mail. First, save the attachment to your h: drive and then work on the saved file.