Top tips
Saving your work
Where to save your work
Virus protection
University policy about storing saved work
Top tips:
- Save your work regularly so that if there are any problems with the computer or network you do not lose your work in its entirety. Using autosave on your OneDrive Cloud storage is recommended.
- Consider saving your work in at least two different places.
- DO NOT attempt to save your files to an LRC computer hard drive because when you log out of the computer your work cannot be retrieved.
- Check that your files have been saved and copied correctly before logging out.
- If you email yourself a file, before working on it, you must save it to a known location before opening it. Do not work on it from within your browser or you may not be able to find it when you think you have saved it.
- Remember to run a regular virus check on your own devices so that your files are not corrupted or lost.
Saving your work
Use the 'Save'/'Save as' option on the File menu to save/backup your work.
The best place to save you work is to your University Office 365 OneDrive (cloud storage)
If you wish to keep a copy of your OneDrive data, we recommend you save it to your personal computer or external hard drive.
We do not recommend the use of USB flash drives as they are easy to misplace and more prone to virus infection.
However, if you do need to use a USB drive please read:
Where to save your work: student online data storage
Where data or documents can be stored and accessed from any location:
Your University Microsoft Office 365 account offers many tools including OneDrive (for storing and sharing documents).
You can access Microsoft Office 365 anytime, anywhere, from any device.
- Login to Microsoft Office 365 at https://office.herts.ac.uk with your username@herts.ac.uk and password.
- When you are on campus you can log into a University computer with your username@herts.ac.uk and password and your OneDrive will launch automatically and is accessible via File Explorer.
- You can get to all your files in OneDrive without having to download them and use storage space on your device. To do this make sure you have turned on Files On-Demand. Right-click on the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the Windows notification area and select settings and check the 'Save space and download files as you use them' box.
New to OneDrive? See our Onedrive FAQs and take a look at the OneDrive Quick Start Guide and Microsoft help videos to help you make the most of using OneDrive.
Every year hundreds of USB sticks are left in machines, handed in as lost items, and never reclaimed.
Make sure you remove your USB stick when you have finished. Work out how best to remind yourself; whether it's a post-it note on the screen or attaching it to a key chain.
- On a PC, Windows will assign the next available drive letter, usually D:\, E:\ or F:\.
- To remove/unmount a USB device from a PC, click on the ‘USB connector/green tick’ icon. This icon can be found in the taskbar, at the bottom right of your screen. A message will appear when the device can be safely removed.
- The Apple Mac system will display the storage device in Finder and on the Desktop, denoted by the name of the storage device, e.g. Macintosh HD
- To safely remove USB devices from Macs, drag the USB device icon to the Trash, or in Finder, right-click on the USB device icon and select Eject USB device.
- USB devices – lost/found and safe use
Troubleshooting USB Storage
Unable to save or copy files onto the USB Drive?
- Check the write-protect slider on the drive (if present, normally a small switch).
- Make sure the drive is not full.
- Make sure you are not trying to replace a file that is open or read-only.
USB device cannot be stopped?
- Save and close the file(s) and retry.
- You may also have to exit the application before the device can be stopped.
No drive letter assigned in Windows, or no drive displayed in Finder shown by Apple Mac?
- Unplug and reinsert the device.
- There may not be a suitable drive letter available (have you used drive letters for other purposes, or connected too many USB devices?)
Virus protection
USBs and other storage devices are checked automatically when they are inserted into any computer in the LRCs and disinfected wherever possible.
You must protect your computer from viruses and malware. See Dealing with viruses and worms