Windows 10 - Your Documents (Staff)

What’s changed?

To ensure a streamlined experience for all staff users, your ‘Documents’ folder will now be unified across all of your Windows 10 devices. This will mean that you can be up and running with access to your files from any computer across the campus, without the need to have to copy files manually. Other folders, such as Music, Pictures and Videos will also be available between computers.

With this change, your documents will now reside in your U: drive; you will notice that new folders such as “Documents”, “Music”, “Pictures” and “Videos” will now appear in here to store these. Don’t worry, you can still access the rest of your files via your U: drive as before.

Your OneDrive account will also still be available as before which is ideal for storing larger files.

Why has this changed?

This change will ensure that your files are saved in accordance to GDPR best practices and will also have the added benefit that your files will be routinely backed up. Should you accidently delete any of your files within your Documents folder, IT Services will be able to recover these for you.

I have a laptop, will this change affect me?

Yes; if you take your laptop off campus you will not be able to access your ‘Documents’ folder unless you have first connected to the University’s VPN system; like you would have experienced with your U: drive in the past. You can still access your documents via OneDrive should you wish.

Details on how to connect to the VPN can be found on the knowledge base, here:

https://itservicecentre.derby.ac.uk/hc/en-us/articles/201939591

Where should I save my files?

Use the following outline below to help you understand the best location for storing your files.

Documents Folder / U: drive Use your documents folder for storing work related documents. Documents declared as ‘Secret’ must be stored here. This will mean that your files will be stored within a “Documents” folder within your U: drive. You can still continue to use your U: drive to store files as before, this has not changed. To access your U Drive at home you can follow this link: https://files.derby.ac.uk/  Your U Drive is also backed up every 4 hours and is kept for 7 years.

OneDrive OneDrive can be used for storing larger non-secret files that you cannot accommodate in your Documents folder. A large amount of storage space is available on your OneDrive, so is ideal for storing larger files. OneDrive files are backed up daily and are kept for 93 days after deletion and is held a further 14 days after deletion by Microsoft