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Cornell University

How to save your data

What happens to the data I collect?

Data on the instrument's computer

At the conclusion of your visit, we ask you to:

  • save and export all your data to to your folder on the shared network drive
  • then delete your local data from the software.

This will free up memory and keep everything running fast. Thank you!

Each instrument will generate .fcs files, an experiment file, and some will also generate .pdf files or sort reports. Experiment files may then be imported to use as a template for future appointments, and can be imported to retrieve copies of all other file types if necessary.

Saving your data is your responsibility. We periodically erase the data on these computers to create space for new experiments.

Data on the Cytometry shared network drive

At the end of your appointment, you can transfer the data you collected onto our Cytometry shared network drive. Although your data will be saved there for a maximum of a year, we recommend that you transfer your data to your own computer as soon as possible.

Saving your data is your responsibility. We also recommend that you create backups of your data to prevent accidental deletion.

How to save my data?

Depending on the instrument you use, there are slight variations on how to export and save your data to the shared network drive.

Instructions for the Attune NxT

Instructions for the FACSMelody

Instructions for the FACSymphony A3 and A5 SE

Instructions for the Sony MA900

Something happened to my own lab computer, I accidentally lost my data. Are they gone for ever?

Data storage is costly and retrieving archives is time consuming, so we charge for it. Please, make redundant backups to prevent accidental data loss. For full details on how to retrieve lost data, our Data retention policy.