As indicated in the instructions on connecting to WesFiles, the Xythos Drive will generally map automatically to your H: drive when you install it on your PC and restart. In case it does not, you can follow these instructions:
- Click the Xythos Drive icon in the tray on the lower right. (Two computer screens—the words “Xythos Drive” will pop up when you mouse over it.)
- Now choose Service > New…
- The Service Name can be whatever you like. “WesFiles” would be a good choice, of course.
- The Server URL should be “https://wesfiles.wesleyan.edu/”
- You can leave the Username and Password blank. These will be picked up when you log onto the computer.
- Now click Advanced>>
- Choose Online for the Startup Mode
- If you set the Sharing Level to Heavy the drive will synchronize with the server more frequently.
- After you click OK you will be able to select the letter of the Drive: to use for the mapping. By convention, we are assigning WesFiles to the H: drive
- To start using the Xythos Drive, click Work Online
- WesFiles should now appear as one of the “Network Drives” under My Computer
To change the settings for an existing mapping, choose the mapping and then Service > Edit…. You will need to disconnect the drive before you can apply any changes.
Note: It is possible to map multiple drives to different areas of WesFiles. You can follow the process above, substituting fuller paths for the “Server URL.” For example, you might map a second drive right to your home directory by using the URL: “https://wesfiles.wesleyan.edu/home/username.” In fact, however, it is probably more effective to use Shortcuts (click here for instructions). Shortcuts have the following advantages over multiple mappings:
- If you are working in a drive that is mapped to a specific subdirectory of WesFiles, you cannot move above that directory within that drive. If you are in a drive mapped to your home directory, you cannot get to the system-wide course or departmental folders, for example. By contrast, if you open a Shortcut to a specific subdirectory of a drive mapped to the WesFiles Root, you will be where you want to be and you will be able to go wherever else you might want to go.
- It is easier to create Shortcuts than to map drives. If you have a number of places you want to keep track of, it will be impractical to map all of them, so using Shortcuts offers a unified, efficient solution.
- You can put Shortcuts pretty much wherever you like, including right on your Desktop; mapped drives show up only in “My Computer.”
- Shortcuts do not burden your local machine with additional processing. Informally, I have found that mapping multiple drives slows things down, especially at startup and shutdown.
- Shortcuts can go directly to files as well as to folders.