Computer Labs: Scratch Disk

The Scratch Disk is a partition, or section, of the hard drive of the refreshing lab and classroom computers. It is the only place to store files, besides your Google Drive, that is not cleared when the computer is restarted. However, during routine lab maintenance and re-installation of the operating systems during breaks, the contents of the Scratch Disk are often deleted. Also, anyone who works on that computer will have complete access to the same Scratch Disk. It is not an account-protected space.

Accessing the Scratch Disk

Scratch disks are available on refreshing lab computers (link opens in a new tab).

• On the Mac side, the Scratch Disk appears on the Desktop as a hard drive icon labeled Scratch Disk.
• On the Windows side, the Scratch Disk can be found in File Explorer, under My Computer, where it is the D: drive.

Moving Files from Scratch Disk to Google Drive

1. Open the Scratch Disk.
2. Click on your file once to select it.
3. In a browser, login to your Carleton Google account (link opens in a new tab) - (you might choose to create a folder there for related items.) 
4. Drag your file from the Scratch Disk to the specific location in your Google Drive.
   1. If you see the file there, you know it has moved successfully.
   2. Note that this will result in two copies of the file - one in the Scratch Disk and one on your Google Drive.  

Using the Scratch Disk

• Use the Scratch Disk when you are working on a project on a refreshing computer (link opens in a new tab). Saving your project to the Scratch Disk will result in more reliable saves than saving to a portable drive (e.g. USB drive.)
• Save your working projects frequently to the Scratch Disk, perhaps every five minutes or so. If the power is lost unexpectedly on the computer, you will still be able to access your project.
  • However, if the computer experiences a hardware malfunction that results in the complete corruption of the hard drive so that all data on it becomes inaccessible, your project will be lost.
• It is advisable to move your project to your Google Drive so that you have reliable access to it from anywhere.
• If you leave your project only on the Scratch Disk it means returning to that particular computer to access it again.
  • If you save a document called ENTS110-w19-final paper.doc onto the Scratch Disk of CMC109-15, you will only be able to access that document in the future from the specific machine labeled CMC109-15 (in CMC109).

Reminder

As a courtesy, remember that many people store their files on the Scratch Disk, so please do not delete any files that you see. If a file looks suspicious, contact the ITS Helpdesk (link opens in a new tab) and they will examine it.