Managing Disk Space

Disk Quota

Each user has an allocated amount of network space for storing their files, known as their "H drive". Staff also have their user profile saved to their H drive and this alone can use in excess of 5Mb of space in some cases. Please be aware that files saved to the Windows "desktop" are automatically saved to your "H" drive on logout and therefore count against your disk quota.

Running low on network space

If you are running low on network space then you will need to remove files you don't really need by copying them to another media such as USB memory stick or burning them to a CD, or simply deleting them. See backing up my files help page.

Files and Folders on the University Network

We refer to your personal network space as your "H drive". This is because most storage media have an assigned letter for easy reference, and the one assigned to the storage media that contains your personal network files is the letter H. The hard-disk drive in the computer itself is refered to as the "C drive" because of its letter assignment.

Some of the Drive letter assignments at the University

*Note about the C: Drive: you cannot save to "C" drive as this is restricted.
The "My Documents" folder automatically re-directs you to H Drive.

Running low on network space

If you are running low on network space then you will need to remove files you don't really need by copying them to another media such as USB memory stick or burning them to a CD, or simply deleting them. See backing up my files help page.

Please note: there are two folders in your H Drive which you should never tamper with as they are needed for correct operation of your network account. For staff these are called "UserPrefs" and "Windows NT 5.1 Workstation Profile", and for students these are called "UserPrefs" and "Desktop".

Saving files

Desktop

Files saved to the Windows "desktop" are automatically saved to the C:drive on logout and count against your disk quota. We recommend that you DO NOT save to your desktop as there may be times when we need to reset your system, due to corruption of files etc, and you could lose your desktop files.

Floppy disk - "A" Drive and CD Rewritable drive

Floppy Disk

You can save files to floppy disk but note that if you open or save a Microsoft Word document on a floppy disk then your disk gets used as a temporary storage area by Windows. This means that if you remove the disk, even for a moment, BEFORE closing down Microsoft Word (and waiting for the disk activity light to go out) then you risk trashing your floppy disk beyond repair. This is nothing to do with the University systems - it is a Microsoft problem. The best thing to do is only use floppy disks in Windows Explorer to copy files to and from, and only work on files in your network area (or your “C” drive of your laptop/home computer).

CD Rewritable drive

You cannot Save directly to a CD, you must burn saved files to a CD.

"H" Drive - staff

The "H" Drive is where your personal network space is found. This is a folder which has the same name as your username and is found inside your department folder.

For example: GByron working for English in the SCS deparment would be found at H:\SCS\Eng\Gbyron. Other users cannot access this area.

Your H Drive has a space limit called a disk quota.The "My Documents" folder automatically re-directs you to H Drive. In MyComputer, H Drive shows as "Usr on 'Everest\User' (H:)"

Please note: there are two folders in your H Drive which you should never tamper with, they are called "UserPrefs" and "Windows NT 5.1 Workstation Profile", they are needed for correct operation of your network account.

"H" Drive - student

The "H" Drive is where your personal network space is found. This is a folder which has the same name as your username and is found inside your course folder.

For example: WRooney1 starting a Sports Studies course with the SPS department in 2005 would be found at H:\05SPS\WRooney1. Other students cannot access this area.

Your H Drive has a space limit called a disk quota. The "My Documents" folder automatically re-directs you to H Drive. In MyComputer, H Drive shows as "Usr on 'Eiger\User' (H:)"

Please note: that there are two folders in your H Drive which you should never tamper with, they are called "UserPrefs" and "Desktop", they are needed for correct operation of your network account.

Share Drive - staff only

The share drive is drive "S". In Windows Explorer or MyComputer it will show as "Share on 'Everest' (S:)". The share drive is divided into 3 sections, but depending on what permissions you have you may only see 1 or 2 of these 3 sections. The sections are PUBLIC, DEPTS and PRIVATE. As its name implies the Share drive is where files can be stored so that others can access them. (More information...)

USB Memory Sticks

For information on USB sticks click here.