OFFLINE FOLDER xp pro

[max30]

Hi all,,

I have alittle issue with xp pro offline folders.
The server is windows 2000.
Client is XP PRO.

I have a folder containing 10 subfolders i want to make availiable offline, easy enough..

1. why does it lose the subfolder structure, extract all the files in those sub folders to show it as a flat structure in your local copy.
2. I cant save any new files to the local offline folder I'd like to be able to so that it will synchronize with the server when online.

It just maybe the way offline folders work.
Any ideas??

Thanks

 

[bcastner]

Q#1: This is actually a little tough to sort. If the complaint is fundamentally that the offline folder on the desktop does not show the explorer folder structure, this is by design. (don't ask me why). If the issue is that it is not grapping files created in new folders where the top level directory is marked already for offline storage, you might have to do a Group Policy edit.

See:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;307853

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...windows/xp/all/reskit/en-us/prde_ffs_ykko.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...windows/xp/all/reskit/en-us/prde_ffs_phvy.asp

 

[bcastner]

Q#1: This is actually a little tough to sort. If the complaint is fundamentally that the offline folder on the desktop does not show the explorer folder structure, this is by design. (don't ask me why). If the issue is that it is not grapping files created in new folders where the top level directory is marked already for offline storage, you might have to do a Group Policy edit.

See:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;307853

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...windows/xp/all/reskit/en-us/prde_ffs_ykko.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...windows/xp/all/reskit/en-us/prde_ffs_phvy.asp

Q#2. The above likely will sort the issue. The offline file feature is a very nice one, but I have had clients were it just does not work as they expect it should. Without shame, I install this third-party product to make them happy:

http://www.centered.com/

Best wishes,
Bill Castner

 

[max30]

Thanks For that.. This is a problem for one of my clients to.
I cant understand how such a nice feature can be so flawed.

I have looked at these settings already. Showing no subfolders is a major issue. Its ok if there is only a few files. But with a 100-200 files all in the offline folder, its a major problem.

And the fact the user cant save any new files to the offline folders is rather painfull. I guess it just depends on what your using it for.

I herd good things about second copy. I'll look into it more.

Thanks Again.

 

[bcastner]

Any issue of saving a new file could be the result of:

. There is a total storage limit for the offline folder. It is oddly slightly more than 4gb, from earlier FAT32 days;

. There are some files that cannot be offlined without a Group Policy change. Access databses, for example, are excluded by default. Personally, I have had mixed success with mucking with these settings. It should work, but your experience may vary, as mine did.

. Pleae report back on the user experience with my third-party recommendation above. It has worked well for me, but I would like to hear other users experiences with this advice.

Bill Castner

 

[max30]

Hi Bill..

I cant even save a simple word pad document. I cant even drag files into the offline folder on desktop.. And it is empty, so there is loads of space.

Just had alittle play with second copy.. Very nice..
Has a sync feature to.. It does what its meant to do..
I'll recomend it to them. MS products can be very over complicated for simple tasks.

I'll let you know when i implement it.

Just something else,, AINT virtual PC a fantastic tool???

 

[bcastner]

I will think about your drag and drop issue with offline files today, but one possibility is a DLL registration issue.

See if this helps: the bcastner 90% of the time fix fix:

Open a new notepad session, to be called IE_fix.cmd, and copy/paste the below:

regsvr32 urlmon.dll
regsvr32 Shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 Msjava.dll
regsvr32 Actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 Oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 Mshtml.dll
regsvr32 Browseui.dll
regsvr32 Shell32.dll

Save the file, then double click IE_fix.cmd and answer the prompts. Ignore any error messages.

Reboot and test again.

As to the use of a third-party tool, the windows offline folder feature just somehow does not match what some users want to do. Or can figure out. As I mentioned earlier, I then use:

http://www.centered.com/

Your last comment was about Virtual PC. Yes, I like this very much. I was called into a site last week attempting to resolve issues with an old Clipper accounting package that was critical to this company. Their auditors had done heroic work with the Compatability Toolkit, but ended up throwing their hands up to the air: "It will not work under XP." All 300 workstations are running Virtual PC, and are happy as can be.

Because I have the link stored, if you want to experiment with Virtual PC, a free 45-day trial:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

 

[max30]

I tried that little fix but it didnt work for me.

The tool at

http://www.centered.com/

is called second copy.

I use virtual PC as a testing environment. So I can test software, and learn new products for clients. I'm able to get rid of A few old pc's!!