USB Flash Drives
(USB) flash memory drives are rapidly gaining popularity - they are an ideal alternative to floppy
disks for easy, compact, fast and reliable file storage. Nearly every new computer sold in recent
years has several USB ports (sockets). The USB Flash Drive simply plugs into one of these ports (usually found on the back but now increasingly popular also on the front). No cables, power supplies, or batteries are required. No need to shut down your computer.
Alternative names are USB Flash Disk, Thumb Drive, Pen Drive, Memory Key, Micro Vault, Pocket Drive, KeyChain, Pico Drive, etc.
Current USB Flash Drives are truly ‘plug and play’ on Windows XP and Mac OS X – meaning no
additional software is required - the device automatically becomes visible as a new hard drive.
Earlier systems (e.g. Win 98) usually require installation of driver software before the USB flash
drive can be used on that computer.
All the computer labs on campus have the capability to use USB Flash drives. Ask a consultant
in the labs how to utilize this file storage method.
Network File Storage
Every UMSL student on campus have their own personal “virtual” drive.
Network File Storage is a service that allows you to use your free space (up to 100MB for students) as a
network drive to store your documents. These files can then be accessed from any computer lab or classroom computer (automatically maps as drive K: in the labs) or from your home.
When you log into the computers in the labs and classrooms, your File Storage Space drive will be located in
“My Computer”. All files can be saved in this folder and be accessible from any lab or classroom
computer. These are also accessible from home.
For more information on File Storage Space, as well as information on how to connect to
your File Storage Space drive from your home computer, please visit the following webpage:
http://www.umsl.edu/technology/support/filestoragespace.
CD-R/CD-RW
Another file storage method is “burning” your files to a CD. Many of the Instructional Computing
labs have drives that allow you to write files to a CD. This is a viable option if you are saving files that are too big to fit on a USB Flash or File Storage Space. Remember: There are two types of blank CD media available;
CD-R and CD-RW. Once files are written to a CD-R, you will not be able to erase or modify the
files. If using a CD-RW this type of disk allows you to erase and resave multiple times.
Floppy Disks
Floppy Disks used to be one of the most common ways files are saved. However, they only allow a small amount of information to be saved and will not work well for large projects or files.
Floppy drives are being phased out throughout the computer labs and classrooms on campus.
We recommend using another file storage option instead of floppy disks.
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