Remove “Work offline” command
This policy setting removes the “Work offline” command from Explorer preventing users from manually changing whether Offline Files is in online mode or offline mode. If you enable this policy setting the “Work offline” command is not displayed in File Explorer. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the “Work offline” command is displayed in File Explorer.
Enable file screens
This policy setting enables administrators to block certain file types from being created in the folders that have been made available offline. If you enable this policy setting a user will be unable to create files with the specified file extensions in any of the folders that have been made available offline. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting a user can create a file of any type in the folders that have been made available offline.
Enable Transparent Caching
This policy setting controls whether files read from file shares over a slow network are transparently cached in the Offline Files cache for future reads. When a user tries to access a file that has been transparently cached Windows reads from the cached copy after verifying its integrity. This improves end-user response times and decreases bandwidth consumption over WAN links. The cached files are temporary and are not available to the user when offline. The cached files are not kept in sync with the version on the server and the most current version from the server is always available for subsequent reads. This policy setting is triggered by the configured round trip network latency value. We recommend using this policy setting when the network connection to the server is slow. For example you can configure a value of 60 ms as the round trip latency of the network above which files should be transparently cached in the Offline Files cache. If the round trip latency of the network is less than 60ms reads to remote files will not be cached. If you enable this policy setting transparent caching is enabled and configurable. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting remote files will be not be transparently cached on client computers.
Configure Background Sync
This policy setting controls when background synchronization occurs while operating in slow-link mode and applies to any user who logs onto the specified machine while this policy is in effect. To control slow-link mode use the “Configure slow-link mode” policy setting. If you enable this policy setting you can control when Windows synchronizes in the background while operating in slow-link mode. Use the ‘Sync Interval’ and ‘Sync Variance’ values to override the default sync interval and variance settings. Use ‘Blockout Start Time’ and ‘Blockout Duration’ to set a period of time where background sync is disabled. Use the ‘Maximum Allowed Time Without A Sync’ value to ensure that all network folders on the machine are synchronized with the server on a regular basis. You can also configure Background Sync for network shares that are in user selected Work Offline mode. This mode is in effect when a user selects the Work Offline button for a specific share. When selected all configured settings will apply to shares in user selected Work Offline mode as well. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting Windows performs a background sync of offline folders in the slow-link mode at a default interval with the start of the sync varying between 0 and 60 additional minutes. In Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 the default sync interval is 360 minutes. In Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 the default sync interval is 120 minutes.
Limit disk space used by Offline Files
This policy setting limits the amount of disk space that can be used to store offline files. This includes the space used by automatically cached files and files that are specifically made available offline. Files can be automatically cached if the user accesses a file on an automatic caching network share. This setting also disables the ability to adjust through the Offline Files control panel applet the disk space limits on the Offline Files cache. This prevents users from trying to change the option while a policy setting controls it. If you enable this policy setting you can specify the disk space limit (in megabytes) for offline files and also specify how much of that disk space can be used by automatically cached files. If you disable this policy setting the system limits the space that offline files occupy to 25 percent of the total space on the drive where the Offline Files cache is located. The limit for automatically cached files is 100 percent of the total disk space limit. If you do not configure this policy setting the system limits the space that offline files occupy to 25 percent of the total space on the drive where the Offline Files cache is located. The limit for automatically cached files is 100 percent of the total disk space limit. However the users can change these values using the Offline Files control applet. If you enable this setting and specify a total size limit greater than the size of the drive hosting the Offline Files cache and that drive is the system drive the total size limit is automatically adjusted downward to 75 percent of the size of the drive. If the cache is located on a drive other than the system drive the limit is automatically adjusted downward to 100 percent of the size of the drive. If you enable this setting and specify a total size limit less than the amount of space currently used by the Offline Files cache the total size limit is automatically adjusted upward to the amount of space currently used by offline files. The cache is then considered full. If you enable this setting and specify an auto-cached space limit greater than the total size limit the auto-cached limit is automatically adjusted downward to equal the total size limit. This setting replaces the Default Cache Size setting used by pre-Windows Vista systems.
Configure slow-link mode
This policy setting controls the network latency and throughput thresholds that will cause a client computers to transition files and folders that are already available offline to the slow-link mode so that the user’s access to this data is not degraded due to network slowness. When Offline Files is operating in the slow-link mode all network file requests are satisfied from the Offline Files cache. This is similar to a user working offline. If you enable this policy setting Offline Files uses the slow-link mode if the network throughput between the client and the server is below (slower than) the Throughput threshold parameter or if the round-trip network latency is above (slower than) the Latency threshold parameter. You can configure the slow-link mode by specifying threshold values for Throughput (in bits per second) and/or Latency (in milliseconds) for specific UNC paths. We recommend that you always specify a value for Latency since the round-trip network latency detection is faster. You can use wildcard characters (*) for specifying UNC paths. If you do not specify a Latency or Throughput value computers running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 will not use the slow-link mode. If you do not configure this policy setting computers running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 will not transition a shared folder to the slow-link mode. Computers running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 will use the default latency value of 80 milliseconds when transitioning a folder to the slow-link mode. Computers running Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 will use the default latency value of 35 milliseconds when transitioning a folder to the slow-link mode. To avoid extra charges on cell phone or broadband plans it may be necessary to configure the latency threshold to be lower than the round-trip network latency. In Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 once transitioned to slow-link mode users will continue to operate in slow-link mode until the user clicks the Work Online button on the toolbar in Windows Explorer. Data will only be synchronized to the server if the user manually initiates synchronization by using Sync Center. In Windows 7 Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 when operating in slow-link mode Offline Files synchronizes the user’s files in the background at regular intervals or as configured by the “Configure Background Sync” policy. While in slow-link mode Windows periodically checks the connection to the folder and brings the folder back online if network speeds improve. In Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 set the Latency threshold to 1ms to keep users always working offline in slow-link mode. If you disable this policy setting computers will not use the slow-link mode.
Turn on economical application of administratively assigned Offline Files
This policy setting allows you to turn on economical application of administratively assigned Offline Files. If you enable or do not configure this policy setting only new files and folders in administratively assigned folders are synchronized at logon. Files and folders that are already available offline are skipped and are synchronized later. If you disable this policy setting all administratively assigned folders are synchronized at logon.
Synchronize offline files before suspend
Determines whether offline files are synchonized before a computer is suspended. If you enable this setting offline files are synchronized whenever the computer is suspended. Setting the synchronization action to “Quick” ensures only that all files in the cache are complete. Setting the synchronization action to “Full” ensures that all cached files and folders are up-to-date with the most current version. If you disable or do not configuring this setting files are not synchronized when the computer is suspended. Note: If the computer is suspended by closing the display on a portable computer files are not synchronized. If multiple users are logged on to the computer at the time the computer is suspended a synchronization is not performed.
Synchronize offline files before suspend
Determines whether offline files are synchonized before a computer is suspended. If you enable this setting offline files are synchronized whenever the computer is suspended. Setting the synchronization action to “Quick” ensures only that all files in the cache are complete. Setting the synchronization action to “Full” ensures that all cached files and folders are up-to-date with the most current version. If you disable or do not configuring this setting files are not synchronized when the computer is suspended. Note: If the computer is suspended by closing the display on a portable computer files are not synchronized. If multiple users are logged on to the computer at the time the computer is suspended a synchronization is not performed.
Synchronize all offline files when logging on
Determines whether offline files are fully synchronized when users log on. This setting also disables the “Synchronize all offline files before logging on” option on the Offline Files tab. This prevents users from trying to change the option while a setting controls it. If you enable this setting offline files are fully synchronized at logon. Full synchronization ensures that offline files are complete and current. Enabling this setting automatically enables logon synchronization in Synchronization Manager. If this setting is disabled and Synchronization Manager is configured for logon synchronization the system performs only a quick synchronization. Quick synchronization ensures that files are complete but does not ensure that they are current. If you do not configure this setting and Synchronization Manager is configured for logon synchronization the system performs a quick synchronization by default but users can change this option. This setting appears in the Computer Configuration and User Configuration folders. If both settings are configured the setting in Computer Configuration takes precedence over the setting in User Configuration. Tip: To change the synchronization method without setting a setting in Windows Explorer on the Tools menu click Folder Options click the Offline Files tab and then select the “Synchronize all offline files before logging on” option.