Technology
Help Desk
Windows XP: Access Your File Server Drives
All members of the Simmons community have access to storage space on the file server. Each Simmons faculty and staff member has a personal file server folder, where they can store up to 1 GB. Students can store 100MB of data. You can access these drives from any computer on campus. To do this you will need to login to the machine, and then select the correct drive. If you need assistance, please call the Simmons Technology Help Desk at x2222. To access your file server drives from a personally-owned computer on campus or using another operating system (e.g. OS X), please see other versions of this document: .
Step 1
Anytime you sit down at a Simmons-owned computer, it should be waiting and ready for you to log in. Press Ctrl - Alt - Delete to access the login window.
Step 2
Log in by entering your
a) Username (same as for Simmons WebMail)
b) Password
c) SIMMONSNT as the "log on to" (click Options if you do not see "log on to")
If this is your first time using your file server drive or logging into a public access computer on campus, you are prompted to change your password. Your new password should be six to eight characters and include upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
Caution : If your password is longer than eight characters, you will be unable to use it on Macintosh computers on campus.
Step 3
Once you are logged in, you will be able to access any programs and drives that public computers allow, plus your personal file server drive.
If you are using a classroom or Library Information Commons computer, double-click on the shortcuts on the desktop for the drives you want to access. If there is not a short cut for the drive you are looking for, keep reading.
Open My Computer from the desktop. This window contains a list of drives. You do not need to access all of these drives. The drives that you will use most often are:
Dept on 'Mcbfs1' (G:)
The Department Drive is for storing files used by an entire department. Everyone in your department has access to your department drive, but other users cannot use it. The Department drive has many, very beneficial uses. For more information, please see "What Are My File Server Drives" on the Technology web site.
To access your department's drive, open the Dept drive and scroll down to the folder labeled with your department's name.
Dept is for use by faculty and staff.
StudentData on 'Mcbfs1' (N:)
Public on 'Mcbfs1' (P:)
These drives can be used for transferring files to someone else or for temporary storage. Please note that files older than 2 weeks are deleted daily, and these files are not backed up. Also be aware that these are not secure locations: files can be viewed and deleted by anyone who accesses the drive. Please backup your work by copying it to another location, and do not save confidential information that you don't want others to read.
StudentData is intended for use by faculty and students. Public is available to faculty and staff; students can read files on Public, but cannot change or delete them.
on 'Mcbfs1\User' (Y:)
on 'Mcbfs1\Student' (Y:)
This drive gives you access to your personal file server drive. This is not a temporary drive like StudentData: any documents you save there will stay until you delete them, or until you are no longer enrolled at or employed by Simmons. Only you have access to your fileserver drive*; you may safely store your personal files there. The Technology department backs up the file server regularly, so your data will be safe and secure.
All users have a personal file server drive .
*Some Technology staff have access rights to your user folder; their access is governed by the Simmons Acceptable Use Policy and the Technology at Simmons College Confidentiality Agreement.
To open a drive, double-click on its icon. You can use a file server drive like any other folder or drive on your computer.
Step 4
When you are finished using the computer, please remember to Log Off so that other users will not have access to your files. To do this, choose the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen and choose Log Off .
Note: Occasionally Technology needs to perform maintenance on Simmons network. Please check your Simmons email or ask Information Commons Technology staff for information about when and how this may affect access to the fileserver.