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Introduction to Filestore
About the file storage available at the University
What is filestore?
Filestore is the place where you store your computer files and documents. There are a number of locations where registered users of the CFS service can store their files and this is often confusing for new users. For example, if you save a Word document, you will be prompted to select a location to store the document. It is important that you choose the filestore carefully as it will have consequences for the file's security or ease of access in the future.
Choosing your filestore
Some of the things to consider when choosing the filestore location are provided below:
Security |
Does the document or file contain sensitive or private information which you should prevent others looking at? |
Backup |
Is it important that there is a backup of the file so that it can be restored if it were lost? |
Access |
Is it important that you are able to look at or edit the file when you are away from the University? |
Sharing |
Do you need to provide a number of people access to the file? Its creation may be a collaborative effort, or maybe it's a guide that many people need to read when required. |
Versioning |
Is it important to be able to retrieve previous versions of the document you are working on, even if you have saved it in the same location and with the same filename? |
Available storage
There are a number of options available when it comes to saving your work. If you select start > My Computer you will see a window that shows the different drives available for storing information. But please note that there are some drives, such as the Y: drive, that you cannot use. For more information about the drives you can use see Available storage.
Your desktop
Your destop area is the blue screen you see when you first start a PC at the University. It shows the Recycle Bin and other icons. Do not be be tempted to save files on the PCs desktop as it can cause profile problems; also files saved here aren’t backed up. Your profile quota, which includes the contents of the desktop, is 12MB.
Summary of storage available
| Option | Secure | Backed up Automatically | Off Campus Access | Designed for Sharing |
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| Z: drive (and My Documents) – The most common area to save files. |
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| X: drive – Area for departments to share files |
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| Removable Storage – For transferring files and creating backups. |
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| D: drive – An area physically located inside your computer |
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| C: drive |
We advise you to not save files on the C: drive. |
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| Your desktop |
We advise you not to save files on the PCs desktop. |
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(1) This requires your department to create a special Web Access folder, see Web Access to the CFS Filestore (Z: drive or X: drive).
Temporary Storage for File Transfer
This service is provided to enable large files to be transferred to or from colleagues who do not have access to University of Leicester computing services. In order to use this service you will need to register to be able to create a temporary FTP account. This service is only available to University of Leicester staff and research postgraduate students.
