Desktop Services
Backing up and recovering files on DS-Filestore
You are responsible for keeping backup copies of your files. The fileservers are backed up by the Computing Service, but not in such a way that individual files can be readily retrieved. It is very easy, as many people have found out the hard way, to lose a file, for instance by accidental deletion or overwriting. You cannot assume that a file you have moved to the Wastebin on a particular machine will still be available on that machine when you come back ten minutes later.
The easiest way to back up files from your Desktop Services filespace is to make regular copies to a USB stick, CD etc., and keep the backups in a safe place, labelled and dated. Copying of files is described on the pages about managing your files on a PC or on a Mac.
It is also a good idea to make sure you make up-to-date (and dated) printouts of documents under development at intervals; in case of major disaster it is usually possible to use a scanner to recreate a document.
If you accidentally delete a file on DS-Filestore there is no straightforward way to recover it, though a method which sometimes works for recovering accidentally deleted DS files is described at 'How can I recover lost files from the MCS'. If you have lost something substantial or important and the above method does not work, it may be worth consulting the UCS Service Desk (Help Desk) for possible ways to retrieve it.
Files which have been damaged because an application crashed when writing them, or through virus attacks, or because a CD or memory stick has become corrupted, can sometimes be partially or wholly recovered. Consult the UCS Service Desk.
If you have files in unusual formats or on unusual storage media, the Computing Service may also be able to assist.
Last updated: September 2011