CSC 160: Managing Your Files, Starting Matlab, etc.

Flash (Thumb) Drives

Inserting, Reading, Writing
On UR IT (Windows 7) computers,

1. Insert drive into USB slot. You'll get a pop-up saying it's recognized.
2. Go to the lower-left 'Windows Sphere' icon, click it, find "Computer" on the right-hand side of tabs, click it, and look for a device like "removable disk" (probably "drive F:"). Click it and you should get a window with your disk's content shown. Leave it open.
3. Go to the MATLAB directory (below)
4. Drag and drop files from disk window to MATLAB directory window so Matlab can see them.
5. Use Matlab's "file" command and the Matlab editor to write new or edit old files.
6. When done, drag your new files into the disk window and remove disk (NOT immediately! see below).

Remove Drive

1. Close disk window.
2. Go do the bottom right of screen, click the teentsy-weenie triangle that shows "hidden icons" if you hover the mouse on it. There are about five tiny icons there. You want the one with a little green circle with a check -- "safely remove media" or somesuch label shows if you hover on it. Click that, choose your removable disk from the choices (usually two) you see, and click that.
3. NOW you can remove the flash drive!

Starting Matlab

Click the "Windows Sphere" icon, then the "All Programs" tab on lower LEFT of window. Then the "Mathematics" entry, then the "Matlab" entry, then the "Matlab 2010a" entry. You should get a Matlab intro pop-up window that in time will disappear and leave you in a Matlab Command window. You're there.

Your Working Directory

If you have not started Matlab, you can find its working directory like this: Click the "Windows Sphere", then the top right-hand tab that says "Testing, testing...". Click that, find the "My Documents" icon, click that, find the "MATLAB" icon, click that, and you'll probably get an empty window with message "Folder has no files" or somesuch. You're there. If you've started Matlab, it should be looking in this working directory already.

Make sure you know what working directory Matlab is using. Use >> pwd within Matlab to find out. We highly recommend on UR Laboratory machines that you be in
C:\testing\Documents\MATLAB\
since very mysterious errors can happen if you're not. If you've got a flash drive, put its contents into the above directory and reload it from that directory when you're finished. Matlab will save your files and changes into this directory if you start there.

If you've started Matlab and are NOT in this directory, go there with the Matlab command
>> cd C:/testing/Documents/MATLAB/
Using backslashes like
>> cd C:\testing\Documents\MATLAB
might work too.