Prevent use of Offline Files folder
Disables the Offline Files folder. This setting disables the “View Files” button on the Offline Files tab. As a result users cannot use the Offline Files folder to view or open copies of network files stored on their computer. Also they cannot use the folder to view characteristics of offline files such as their server status type or location. This setting does not prevent users from working offline or from saving local copies of files available offline. Also it does not prevent them from using other programs such as Windows Explorer to view their offline files. 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 view the Offline Files Folder in Windows Explorer on the Tools menu click Folder Options click the Offline Files tab and then click “View Files. “
Action on server disconnect
Determines whether network files remain available if the computer is suddenly disconnected from the server hosting the files. This setting also disables the “When a network connection is lost” 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 you can use the “Action” box to specify how computers in the group respond. — “Work offline” indicates that the computer can use local copies of network files while the server is inaccessible. — “Never go offline” indicates that network files are not available while the server is inaccessible. If you disable this setting or select the “Work offline” option users can work offline if disconnected. If you do not configure this setting users can work offline by default but they 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 configure this setting without establishing a setting in Windows Explorer on the Tools menu click Folder Options click the Offline Files tab click Advanced and then select an option in the “When a network connection is lost” section. Also see the “Non-default server disconnect actions” setting.
Action on server disconnect
Determines whether network files remain available if the computer is suddenly disconnected from the server hosting the files. This setting also disables the “When a network connection is lost” 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 you can use the “Action” box to specify how computers in the group respond. — “Work offline” indicates that the computer can use local copies of network files while the server is inaccessible. — “Never go offline” indicates that network files are not available while the server is inaccessible. If you disable this setting or select the “Work offline” option users can work offline if disconnected. If you do not configure this setting users can work offline by default but they 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 configure this setting without establishing a setting in Windows Explorer on the Tools menu click Folder Options click the Offline Files tab click Advanced and then select an option in the “When a network connection is lost” section. Also see the “Non-default server disconnect actions” setting.
Files not cached
Lists types of files that cannot be used offline. This setting lets you exclude certain types of files from automatic and manual caching for offline use. The system does not cache files of the type specified in this setting even when they reside on a network share configured for automatic caching. Also if users try to make a file of this type available offline the operation will fail and the following message will be displayed in the Synchronization Manager progress dialog box: “Files of this type cannot be made available offline. “This setting is designed to protect files that cannot be separated such as database components. To use this setting type the file name extension in the “Extensions” box. To type more than one extension separate the extensions with a semicolon (;). Note: To make changes to this setting effective you must log off and log on again.
Event logging level
Determines which events the Offline Files feature records in the event log. Offline Files records events in the Application log in Event Viewer when it detects errors. By default Offline Files records an event only when the offline files storage cache is corrupted. However you can use this setting to specify additional events you want Offline Files to record. To use this setting in the “Enter” box select the number corresponding to the events you want the system to log. The levels are cumulative; that is each level includes the events in all preceding levels. “0” records an error when the offline storage cache is corrupted. “1” also records an event when the server hosting the offline file is disconnected from the network. “2” also records events when the local computer is connected and disconnected from the network. “3” also records an event when the server hosting the offline file is reconnected to the network. Note: 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.
Event logging level
Determines which events the Offline Files feature records in the event log. Offline Files records events in the Application log in Event Viewer when it detects errors. By default Offline Files records an event only when the offline files storage cache is corrupted. However you can use this setting to specify additional events you want Offline Files to record. To use this setting in the “Enter” box select the number corresponding to the events you want the system to log. The levels are cumulative; that is each level includes the events in all preceding levels. “0” records an error when the offline storage cache is corrupted. “1” also records an event when the server hosting the offline file is disconnected from the network. “2” also records events when the local computer is connected and disconnected from the network. “3” also records an event when the server hosting the offline file is reconnected to the network. Note: 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.
Encrypt the Offline Files cache
This policy setting determines whether offline files are encrypted. Offline files are locally cached copies of files from a network share. Encrypting this cache reduces the likelihood that a user could access files from the Offline Files cache without proper permissions. If you enable this policy setting all files in the Offline Files cache are encrypted. This includes existing files as well as files added later. The cached copy on the local computer is affected but the associated network copy is not. The user cannot unencrypt Offline Files through the user interface. If you disable this policy setting all files in the Offline Files cache are unencrypted. This includes existing files as well as files added later even if the files were stored using NTFS encryption or BitLocker Drive Encryption while on the server. The cached copy on the local computer is affected but the associated network copy is not. The user cannot encrypt Offline Files through the user interface. If you do not configure this policy setting encryption of the Offline Files cache is controlled by the user through the user interface. The current cache state is retained and if the cache is only partially encrypted the operation completes so that it is fully encrypted. The cache does not return to the unencrypted state. The user must be an administrator on the local computer to encrypt or decrypt the Offline Files cache. Note: By default this cache is protected on NTFS partitions by ACLs. This setting is applied at user logon. If this setting is changed after user logon then user logoff and logon is required for this setting to take effect.
Allow or Disallow use of the Offline Files feature
This policy setting determines whether the Offline Files feature is enabled. Offline Files saves a copy of network files on the user’s computer for use when the computer is not connected to the network. If you enable this policy setting Offline Files is enabled and users cannot disable it. If you disable this policy setting Offline Files is disabled and users cannot enable it. If you do not configure this policy setting Offline Files is enabled on Windows client computers and disabled on computers running Windows Server unless changed by the user. Note: Changes to this policy setting do not take effect until the affected computer is restarted.
Default cache size
Limits the percentage of the computer’s disk space that can be used to store automatically cached offline files. This setting also disables the “Amount of disk space to use for temporary offline files” option on the Offline Files tab. This prevents users from trying to change the option while a setting controls it. Automatic caching can be set on any network share. When a user opens a file on the share the system automatically stores a copy of the file on the user’s computer. This setting does not limit the disk space available for files that user’s make available offline manually. If you enable this setting you can specify an automatic-cache disk space limit. If you disable this setting the system limits the space that automatically cached files occupy to 10 percent of the space on the system drive. If you do not configure this setting disk space for automatically cached files is limited to 10 percent of the system drive by default but users can change it. Tip: To change the amount of disk space used for automatic caching without specifying a setting in Windows Explorer on the Tools menu click Folder Options click the Offline Files tab and then use the slider bar associated with the “Amount of disk space to use for temporary offline files” option.
Non-default server disconnect actions
Determines how computers respond when they are disconnected from particular offline file servers. This setting overrides the default response a user-specified response and the response specified in the “Action on server disconnect” setting. To use this setting click Show. In the Show Contents dialog box in the Value Name column box type the server’s computer name. Then in the Value column box type “0” if users can work offline when they are disconnected from this server or type “1” if they cannot. This setting appears in the Computer Configuration and User Configuration folders. If both settings are configured for a particular server the setting in Computer Configuration takes precedence over the setting in User Configuration. Both Computer and User configuration take precedence over a user’s setting. This setting does not prevent users from setting custom actions through the Offline Files tab. However users are unable to change any custom actions established via this setting. Tip: To configure this setting without establishing a setting in Windows Explorer on the Tools menu click Folder Options click the Offline Files tab and then click Advanced. This setting corresponds to the settings in the “Exception list” section.