Backing Up Your Data

Keeping things organized and safe from loss is a significant challenge when using computers in a public lab environment. The larger problem, perhaps, is being able to come back to a machine you've been using for weeks on end (in the course of a term project, say) and still finding your documents and data in the last place you left it. One suggested strategy would be to create a folder for your work that is not on the computer desktop. On Windows machines, try putting such project files in a folder with your name on it into the "My Documents" folder. However, the best strategy for preserving your files will be to obtain an external device to store your information (for example, a flash drive or zip disk).

You should keep in mind that files and folders left on the computer desktop are much more likely to vanish, or perhaps simply be examined by the idly curious. It is best practice to save any important files to a personal device.