Your Directories
Local Computer: Directories available to you on the local computer are Desktop, Documents, Music, Pictures, Video and Downloads. Programs loaded on your computer will often attempt to save in these directories.
External Drives: External drives (storage) comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. In fact, any device that you connect to your computer that has memory storage of it's own will be read by your computer as an external drive. This includes:
- USB flash drives
- External hard drives
- Cameras (such as the library's FLIP cameras)
- Memory cards (can be pulled from cameras, phones, etc. and read using a USB card reader available in the library).
Networked Drives: The drive commonly referred to as your (H:) drive is network space allotted to you at MGHS. YThis space resides apart from your computer and is accessible when you are logged into the network. Depending on the classes you are enrolled in, you may have additional network drives available to you.
Google Drive: This drive exists "in the cloud" as part of your school Google account. Each student is allotted 30GB of space to store file, as well as email and other Google account data. This drive is available to you anytime you are connected to the internet, regardless of computer.
Understanding File Paths
Understanding File Paths
Computers find files in directories through PATHS. You can visualize the path this way:
Computers create a path whenever you save a document. You can customize the path simply by taking control over naming the file and determining where your computer saves it. Why should you do this?
- Easier retrieval!
If you know where you saved a file, you are prepared to direct your computer to the file, should the path be lost. This is especially important when you are using multiple computers or external storage drives. - Efficient file management!
During the creation of projects, elements to be used in the project are saved. It's not always necessary to keep these elements once the project has been finalized and assessed. Keeping project elements in a file associated withthe finalized project will allow you to locate and delete the extra files once your work is done. Move just the finalized project to a portfolio of your own work.