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📂 Winfile

Cleaning up your personal Winfile drive

Each user ID is provided a personal drive partition (Winfile). One big advantage is that you can access your data independent of hardware. The Winfile server are administered and maintained centrally. Here is an overview of your Winfile drive:

1. Which data/files should I store in my personal Winfile folder?

  • Your personal drive should mainly contain data that isn't currently being worked on cooperatively.
  • Avoid storing files on your computer's local drive (you can find a guide for this here). Instead, use the Winfile drive or Hessenbox.
  • For files being collectively edited in your department, we recommend using a shared Winfile drive. For projects between several departments, we recommend storing the files in Hessenbox. Project leaders or the responsible personnel should store these documents centrally at the end. The Hessenbox folder can then be deleted by all contributors (you can find a guide for this here).

2. Which documents do I not need to store in my personal Winfile folder?

  • Committee and meeting notes, circulars, Giessen University communications (MUGs), etc. are available centrally and can be seen on the university web pages at any time. Therefore you do not need to store these documents on your home drive.
  • Sick slips must be deleted and vacation requests may be deleted after they are approved and entered into the HR's personnel management system.

3. Are you happy with the file structure of your Winfile folder? Can you find everything?

Here is one possibility for structuring the drives:

  • Set up a new file structure (folders & sub-folders).
  • Store the files directly into the new structure.
  • Integrate old files into the new folders as they are used.
  • If after a certain time frame x (perhaps 6 months) the documents are still in the old folders, they aren't needed and can be archived/deleted.

Tip: If Outlook and Winfile have similar file structures, you can find related documents more quickly and administer their storage locations, archive, and delete them in parallel. For example:

  • Outlook inbox: Projects – Project 1; Project 2; Project 3; ...
  • Personal Winfile folder: Projects – Project 1; Project 2; Project 3; ...

Avoid storing personal files in shared drives—this can quickly lead to duplicate storage—it's better to use a content-based structure according to topics/projects.

4. Done—your Winfile drive has been cleaned up!

You can find more information on Winfile on the web pages of the University Computer Center.