Managing Files, Folders, and Search Methods

Any shared file or folder on a Microsoft network can be made available offline. You can make files available from any computer that supports server message block (SMB)–-based File and Printer Sharing, including Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0. Offline Files is not available on Novell NetWare networks or when Windows 2000  is running Terminal Services.

Files specified for offline use are stored, or cached, in a database on the hard disk drive of the local computer. If the network resource becomes unavailable, notification appears in the status area. Changes made to the file while offline are saved locally and then synchronized when the network resource is available.

Offline files and information about them are stored in a database in a hidden system folder (%systemroot%\CSC). The database emulates the network resource while it is offline so that files are accessed as though the network resource is still available.

The Offline Files Folder is created when files are requested offline and provides a view of the files stored in the database.

Caution

If the network resource is online, renaming files in the Offline Files Folder takes effect immediately on the network resource.

To access Offline Files configuration options

1. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click a folder.

2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options .

3. Click the Offline Files tab.

Note

If there is already an Offline Files shortcut on your desktop, you can skip the following procedure and access the Offline Files Folder by double-clicking the desktop shortcut to Offline Files.

To access the Offline Files Folder

1. In My Computer of Windows Explorer, click a folder.

2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options .

3. Click the Offline Files tab.

4. Click View Files .

Making Files Available Offline

Files are cached to the computer that requests them in one of two ways: automatic caching or manual caching. Automatic caching occurs when a specific file in a folder has been opened, but only if the network server indicates that the contents of the share should be automatically cached. Automatically cached files are marked as Temporarily Available Offline in the Offline Files Folder because they can be removed from the cache as the cache fills up. There is no guarantee that an automatically cached file will be available when offline. Automatic caching does not cache all the files in a folder.

Files are manually cached when a computer specifically requests, or pins, a particular file or folder on the network to be available offline. Files and folders are pinned by selecting the file or folder and clicking Make Available Offline on the File menu. Manually cached files are marked as Always available offline in the Offline Files Folder. The icon representing the file or folder updates to depict its offline status.

In Windows 2000 Professional, when a folder is shared, Manual Caching for Documents setting is enabled by default. To change the setting so that documents are automatically cached, right-click the folder, click Sharing , and then click Caching . In the Setting box, click Automatic Caching for Documents . You can also choose to disable caching.

Note

You can also manually pin files and folders that have been configured for automatic caching.

By default, the following files types cannot be cached:

*.SLM; *.MDB; *.LDB; *.MDW; *.MDE; *.PST; *.DB?

You can override the default settings by using the Files not cached Group Policy setting. Any file types you specify in the Group Policy setting override the default files types not usually cached. For example, if you specify that only *.txt files cannot be cached, all other file types become available for caching. .

The default cache size for automatically cached offline files is 10 percent of the total disk space of the hard disk drive. You can change the default (specify a value between 0 and 100 percent) on the Offline Files tab of the Folder Options dialog box (accessed by clicking Folder Options on the Tools menu). This setting does not affect the cache for manually cached files. You can store up to 2 gigabytes (GB) of manually cached files per computer if you have that much space available.

More About the Offline Files Database

The database containing information about Offline Files resides in the hidden system folder, or directory, called %systemroot%\CSC. The name CSC refers to client side caching. The CSC directory contains all offline files requested by any user on the computer.

Files in the CSC directory are not encrypted, nor is encryption preserved, but file permissions and system permissions on the file are preserved. Therefore, a Microsoft Word document created by Peter Tysver, given a password, and saved to a share on which only he has Full user rights, cannot be opened from the CSC directory by Renee Smith, because she has neither the share rights to open the file nor the password required to open the file in Microsoft Word.

To open or view the files in the CSC directory, you must log on as a member of the Administrators group. Because file encryption is not preserved, it is possible to log on as an administrator and to open files and view their content from the CSC directory by using a program such as Notepad. Users who share computers need to be aware that sensitive information can be viewed by anyone who is a member of the Administrators group.

Note

On a FAT file system or a FAT file system converted to NTFS, users might be able to read information that is cached in the %systemroot%\CSC directory. This includes offline files requested by another user on the same computer.

It is very important not to move or delete files directly from the CSC directory. For more information about moving the cache folder and deleting files from the cache, see Managing Offline Files later in this chapter.