It is your responsibility to take ownership of your data somewhere outside of your computer in a secure location. There are many options for how to do this. Even when your computer is running normally, it is important to back your data up because you never know when something will go wrong with your computer. If you do not know how to back your data up, you can bring your device and an external hard drive down to the University Technology Helpdesk. We will not back up the files for you, but someone will help you through the process.
The University Technology Helpdesk will NOT accept your computer for repair unless you have your data backed up somewhere externally. |
Your F: Drive is a network drive that Drew has provided for you to use as storage space for academic documents and data. You start out with 100 MB. More space can be added by request, but students can only have a maximum of 200 MB of space; staff and faculty can have up to 1000 MB.
If you have a Drew PC, you only need to be logged in with the Windows Log on and your network drives will automatically appear.
You may also access your other network drives using the instructions here.
The F: Drive is accessible off campus and from non-Drew computers/devices as well. Using a web browser, go the https://myfiles.drew.edu/, log in with your Drew username and password, and you will see all of your network drives. Learn more at MyFiles.
Faculty and Staff also have access to the O: drive, commonly referred to as the G: drive (this is your shortcut directly to your departmental folder), for their storage needs. It can be accessed like the F: drive. Your G: drive will be shared with everyone in your department. DO NOT save personal or private data there.
You can learn more about Google Drive and its storage options at the G Suite Learning Center for Drive.
Flash Drives are small, portable storage devices. These can hold anywhere from 1 GB - 50 GB nowadays (some even more). While they are getting less expensive as time and technology advances, the more storage it offers, the more expensive the device typically is. These are helpful for transporting important files around with you, but are not intended for long-term storage or backup.
External Hard Drives are exactly what they sound like. They are large storage devices, many having 1 TB or more for storage. These are the best options for backing up your computer's files since they typically have the most storage space. Some come with programs installed to help you back up your files, but most are just plug-in then drag and drop.
You can find instructions on creating backups for the following computer operating systems at the sites below.
We would be remiss if we didn't remind you to also back up any files - we're looking at you, photographs! - saved to your phone. Both iPhones and Androids will offer to save your content to the cloud automatically. Consider looking over what set up you are using to make sure you continue to have access to everything important to you.