Managing Offline Files in Vista

Configuring offline files is a multistep process that begins with setting appropriate group policies, continues through configuration of specific offline folders, and ends with setting user options for working offline. Although the primary users who work offline use laptops, which they take home or to other locations, all users can benefit from offline file configurations.

Understanding Offline Files

Offline files enable users to store network files on their computer so that they are available when the users are not connected to the network or there is a network outage. Once configured, Windows Vista automatically uses offline files whenever the network files are not available. This enables users to continue working on network files without interruption. When the connection to the network is reestablished, Windows Vista automatically synchronizes the files on the user's computer with the files in the network folder.

The way changes are applied depends on how they were made. If multiple users make changes to a particular offline file, they can use conflict resolution features to save their version of the file over the existing version, keep the other version, or save both versions on the network. If a user deletes an offline file, the file is also deleted on the network, except when someone modifies the file on the network so that it has a more recent date and time stamp. In this case, the file is deleted from the user's computer and not from the network. If users change an offline file that someone else deletes from the network, they can choose to save their version to the network or delete it from their computer.

Windows Vista provides two key enhancements to the way offline files are used:

• Change-only syncing Windows Vista allows for faster synchronization by syncing only the changed blocks of files. Thus, unlike Windows XP, where the entire contents of a changed file are written back to the server during synchronization, with Windows Vista only the changed blocks are written back to the server during synchronization.

• Unavailable file and folder ghosting When partial contents of a folder are made available offline, Windows Vista creates ghosted entries of other files and folders to preserve the online context. Because of this, when you are not connected to a remote location, you'll see ghost entries for online items as well as normal entries for offline items.

Both users and administrators have control over when offline files are synchronized. Automatic synchronization can be triggered by user logon and logoff and by computers entering the standby or hibernate modes. The exact settings for automatic synchronization depend on Group Policy and user settings.

Manual synchronization is controlled through Sync Center. You can access Sync Center by following these steps:

1. Click Start, Control Panel. In Control Panel, click Network And Internet.

2. On the Network And Internet Page, click Sync Center.

Making Files or Folders Available Offline

Shared network folders can be made available for use offline. By default, all subfolders and files within the shared folders are also available offline. If necessary, you can change the availability of individual files and subfolders. To do this, you'll need to change the availability of each individual file or subfolder. Keep in mind that new files added to a shared folder that is designated for offline use are not automatically distributed to users working offline. The offline folder must be synchronized to obtain the updates.

You can configure offline files using Windows Explorer or the Computer Management console. Because Computer Management enables you to work with and manage offline files on any of your network computers, it's usually the best tool to use. To configure offline files on a server running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003, you must be a member of the Administrators or the Server Operators group. To configure offline files on a Windows Vista workstation, you must be a member of the Administrators or the Power Users group.

Making files or folders available offline is a three step process. First you share folders. Then you make those folders available for offline use. Finally, you have the users specify the files and folders they want to use offline.

Step 1: Share Folders

In the Computer Management console, you make a folder available for sharing by completing the following steps:

1. Right-click Computer Management in the console tree and then select Connect To Another Computer. Use the Select Computer dialog box to choose the computer you want to work with.

2. In the console tree, expand System Tools and Shared Folders and then select Shares. The current shares on the system are displayed in the details pane.

3. Right-click Shares and then select New File Share. This starts the Create A Shared Folder Wizard, which can be used to share folders .

Step 2: Make Folders Available for Offline Use

In the Computer Management console, you make a shared folder available for offline use by completing these steps:

1. Right-click Computer Management in the console tree and then select Connect To Another Computer. Use the Select Computer dialog box to choose the computer you want to work with.

2. In the console tree, expand System Tools and Shared Folders and then select Shares.

3. Current shared folders are displayed in the details pane. Double-click the share you want to configure for offline use. On the General tab, click Offline Settings.

4. In the Offline Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 1, select one of the following options:

   • q Only The Files And Programs That Users Specify Will Be Available Offline Use this setting when you want users to manually specify any files that they want available when working offline. This is the default option and is best used when multiple users want to modify the same files within a folder. Once configured for manual caching, files are automatically downloaded and made available for offline use. If an older version of a document was cached previously, the older version is deleted. When using a file online, the server version always reflects that the file is in use.

   • q All Files And Programs That Users Open From The Share Will Be Automatically Available Offline Use this setting for folders containing user data and programs. Opened files and program executables are automatically downloaded and made available for offline use. If an older version of a document was cached previously, the older version is deleted from the local cache. When using a file online, the server version always reflects that the file is in use. Prompts are displayed if version conflicts occur.

     With this option, you can also select Optimized For Performance to enable expanded caching of programs. This expanded caching enables programs shared over the network to be cached so they can be run locally, which improves performance.

   
   Figure 1: Configure caching options for offline files in the Offline Settings dialog box.

5. Click OK twice.

Step 3: Specify the Offline Files and Folders to Use

Once you've created the shares and configured offline use of those shares as appropriate, you can specify the files and folders to use offline by following these steps:

1. Map a network drive to a shared file or folder.

2. Click Start, Computer. This opens the Computer Console.

3. Create the offline file cache by doing one of the following:

   • q To copy the entire contents of a shared folder to the user's computer and make it available for offline use, under Network Location, right-click the shared location and then select Always Available Offline.

   • q To copy only a selected folder (and its contents) or a selected file to the user's computer and make it available offline, use the Computer console to locate the network file or folder, and then right-click the file or folder and select Always Available Offline.

Designating files and folders for offline use creates a local cache of the contents of the files and folders on the user's computer. It also either establishes a sync partnership between the local computer and the sharing computer or extends an existing sync partnership to incorporate the additional shared files and folders. Sync partnerships can be managed using Sync Center.

Working Offline

You are considered to be working offline whenever your computer is not connected to the local area network. When working offline, you can work with network files in the same way that you do when you are connected to the network. You have the same permissions when working offline. Therefore, if you only have read access to a file when you're connected to the network, then when you're working offline, you'll still only be able to read and not modify the file. You know you are working offline when you see a red X over Network Drives or in the notification area of the taskbar.

You can also specify that you want to work offline. To work with offline files stored on your computer rather than on the network, follow these steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, open the network folder that contains the files you want to work with offline and then click Work Offline on the toolbar.

2. When you are finished working offline and want to begin working online again, click Work Online on the toolbar. This will sync any changes you've made offline with the files on the network.

Managing Offline File Synchronization

Sync Center, shown in Figure 2, simplifies the management of cached offline files and folders. In Sync Center, a sync partnership is established for every shared folder that has locally cached contents. Each sync partnership established has a set of properties that enables you to control whether and how syncing occurs.

Figure 2: Use Sync Center to view and manage synchronization.

Viewing Current Sync Partnerships

You can view current sync partnerships in Sync Center by following these steps:

1. Click Start, Control Panel. In Control Panel, click Network And Internet.

2. On the Network And Internet page, click Sync Center.

3. In Sync Center, currently defined sync partnerships are listed according to name, status, progress, conflict count, error count, and category.

Once you've accessed Sync Center, you can easily check for synchronization problems, start or stop syncing, and configure syncing.

Syncing Offline Files Manually

You can manually start syncing of offline files using either of the following techniques:

• Sync all offline files and folders When multiple sync partnerships have been established, you can sync all offline files and folders by opening Sync Center and then clicking Sync All. Sync All is only available when no individual sync partnerships are selected.

• Sync a specific network share When you want to sync the offline files and folders for a particular shared network folder, you can sync a specific network share by opening Sync Center, clicking the sync partnership that you want to work with, and then clicking Sync.

Syncing Offline Files Automatically

Group Policy settings control exactly how offline file syncing works. Generally, offline files are automatically synchronized when a user reconnects to the network after being disconnected from the network or electing to work offline. You can also configure synchronization so that it occurs at one of the following times:

• At a specific scheduled time

• When the user logs on

• When the computer is idle

• When the user locks or unlocks Windows

Scheduling Syncing You can create and manage scheduled synchronization by following these steps:

1. In Sync Center, click the sync partnership you want to work with and then click Schedule.

2. If you've previously scheduled synchronization for this resource, you can:

   • q Create a new schedule Click Create A New Sync Schedule and then follow steps 3–7.

   • q View or edit an existing schedule Click View Or Edit An Existing Sync Schedule, click the schedule to change, click Next, and then follow steps 3–7.

   • q Delete an existing schedule Click Delete An Existing Sync Schedule, click the schedule to delete, and then click Delete. Click OK and then skip the remaining steps.

3. Review the items you are configuring and clear the check boxes for any items you don't want to configure. Then click Next. Click At A Scheduled Time.

4. The Start On and At options are configured so scheduled syncing will start immediately. (See Figure 3.) If you want to start scheduled syncing on a different date and time, use the options provided to change the start date and time. You can use the left and right arrow keys to navigate the fields and the up and down arrows to change the values.

   
   Figure 3: Create a sync schedule.

5. The Repeat Every option sets the sync interval. The default repeat interval is once every day. You can set the repeat interval to a value in minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. Because only changes are synced, you might want to sync more frequently than you would with Windows XP. For example, with important files, you might want to sync every three to four hours.

6. Click Next.

7. Type a descriptive name for the scheduled sync and then click Save Schedule.

Syncing on an Event or Action You can create and manage synchronization based on events or actions by following these steps:

1. In Sync Center, click the sync partnership you want to work with and then click Schedule.

2. If you've previously scheduled synchronization for this resource, you can:

   • q Create a new schedule Click Create A New Sync Schedule and then follow steps 3–6.

   • q View or edit an existing schedule Click View Or Edit An Existing Sync Schedule, click the schedule to change, click Next, and then follow steps 3–6.

   • q Delete an existing schedule Click Delete An Existing Sync Schedule, click the schedule to delete, and then click Delete. Click OK and then skip the remaining steps.

3. Review the items you are configuring, clear the check boxes for any items you don't want to configure, and then click Next. Click On An Event Or Action.

4. As shown in Figure 4, use the check boxes provided to specify the events and actions that start automatic syncing.

   
   Figure 4: Sync based on events and actions.

5. Click Next.

6. Type a descriptive name for the scheduled sync and then click Save Schedule.

Determining Synchronization Details, Errors, and Warnings

Synchronization results provide details, errors, and warnings. To view current sync results, open Sync Center and click View Sync Results under Tasks. You can use the sync details to determine when syncing was started, stopped, or completed. You can use errors and warnings to determine whether there are problems with the synchronization configuration.

Resolving Synchronization Conflicts

Synchronization conflicts occur if a user makes changes to a file offline that is updated online by another user. You can view and resolve synchronization conflicts by following these steps:

1. In Sync Center, click View Sync Conflicts under Tasks.

2. Any existing conflicts are listed in the main pane, as shown in Figure 5.

   
   Figure 5: Conflicts are listed according to document name, file type, time, partnership, and conflict type.

3. To display the Resolve Conflict dialog box, shown in Figure 6, double-click a conflict you want to resolve.

   
   Figure 6: Use the Resolve Conflict dialog box to resolve synchronization conflicts.

4. You can now:

   • q Click the version you want to keep. If you want to keep the local version and overwrite the network version, click the version listed as On This Computer. If you want to keep the network version and overwrite the local version, click the version listed as being on the shared network location.

   • q Click Keep Both Versions to write the local version to the shared network location with a new file name. Generally, the new file name will be the same as the old file name, but with a numeric suffix, indicating the version increment. If you are at all unsure about which version of a file to keep, keep both versions and then compare the two versions carefully for changes that should either be merged or discarded.

Making Offline Files Unavailable

As an administrator, you can specify files that should not be available for offline use. Typically, you'll do this when a shared folder contains specific files that users shouldn't manipulate. To make a file unavailable for offline use, you should set a specific exclusion policy .

In the Computer Management console, you make a shared folder unavailable for offline use by completing these steps:

1. Right-click Computer Management in the console tree and then select Connect To Another Computer. Use the Select Computer dialog box to choose the computer you want to work with.

2. In the console tree, expand System Tools and Shared Folders and then select Shares. Current shared folders are displayed in the details pane.

3. Double-click the share you want to configure for offline use. On the General tab, click Offline Settings.

4. In the Offline Settings dialog box, select Files Or Programs From The Share Will Not Be Available Offline.

5. Click OK.