This is part of a regular series of articles exploring some of the terms used in e-learning (view other articles in the series).  We’ll do our best to break down the jargon and explain what things are from a basic perspective.

Today we’re looking at the F drive and G drive. One staff member mentioned to us that it was great learning about terms used wider on the internet, but he didn’t understand some of the local jargon used internally at Sheffield Hallam University as well.  So we thought we’d focus the next couple of articles on local jargon, starting with the F and G drive, as these are terms used pretty regularly at the University.

Hard drives (often just called drives) are devices which store files and folders, such as the documents you create at work. There are three main types of drives: local drives, removable storage and network drives.  Local drives are physically attached to the computer that you are using.  Removable storage includes drives you can take with you and connect to any computer, such as a USB stick, and media such as DVDs and CDs which contain data.  Network drives are remotely located drives which you are connected to via the University’s ICT network.

On your desktop you should see an icon for your computer which looks similar to this  . When you double-click on the icon, it should load a page which displays all of the drives that your computer is connected to and contains information similar to that in the image below.  However each computer will have its own configuration and the specifics of what you see will vary. 

Each of the drives has a name (such as ‘data’) and, in parentheses, a letter followed by a colon (such as ‘D’).  The drive is often referred to by the letter instead of the name.  So the F drive is the third drive listed in the picture above.

The C and D drives in the above example are both local drives attached to the specific computer I am using. This means that any files I save on those drives will not be accessible on other computers that I log into.  If my computer were to crash, I would lose any documents I saved onto those drives.

The F drive is personal space on a networked drive, meaning it is only accessible to the specific user who is logged into the computer.  When you log into any computer at work or the remote desktop tool when at home, you will be connected to your F drive, and have access to all of the files you have saved there.  The F drive is also automatically backed up at regular intervals, which means your work should be safe if your computer crashes.  Therefore the F drive is the best place to save work-related documents that only you need access to.

The G drive is shared space on a networked drive for your local area or department.  This means you can put files there which your colleagues should access and edit as well.  It is also backed up regularly for safety. The G drive is an ideal place to put documents which are being shared between individuals in your local subject area or department.  Individuals from other departments will not have access to your G drive, but will have their own separate G drive.

You will probably see other network drives, such as O, P, R and S. Do not worry about these drives, as you are unlikely to need to access them. You may also have access to different removable storage drives depending on what you have connected to your computer at the time.

For more details, including an explanatory video, please see the ebytes feature Where’s My Stuff?.