Virtual Lab Tip: Improve App Performance by Using the Home (P:) Drive
This article explains best practices for use of certain apps within the Virtual Lab related to saving and opening work in/from the P: or Home Drive.
Table of Contents
In the Virtual Lab, users have two primary in-Lab storage options:
A. User profile storage ("UNC" path)
B. "Home" Drive storage (P: Drive)
Many applications in the Virtual Lab, such as ArcGIS, Eclipse or NetBeans, perform much better when files, projects, or data sets used within them are stored (saved) in and opened from the Home or "P:" Drive rather than the file space attributed to a user's profile (UNC pathway). In general, we recommend storing work in the P: Drive for best results. This article explains how to locate and use the P: Drive.
Open Projects from P: Drive
To start work from the Home (P:) Drive:
- Log into the Virtual Lab, open a web browser within the Lab, and go to Canvas (or whichever other site is housing the needed data or files for starting your project).
- Download the needed data or files to the Lab virtual computer.
- Move the files from the Downloads folder into a new folder in the Home (P:) Drive.
- Open the application you plan to use for your work (ArcGIS, NetBeans, etc.).
- Open a new project and select the Home/P: Drive as the file's location. Your file pathway should be short and begin with P:\.
Save work to P: Drive
To save work from an application to the P:/Home Drive:
- Click "Save As" within your application where you are working.
- Navigate through the file structure to the Home/P: Drive.
- If you haven't done so already, create a new folder for your work in the P: Drive. You may want to create separate folders for each application you're using if you are making and saving projects for multiple applications.
- Save your work there and open it from there when you return to your work later.