Use
Offline Files When You're off the Network
Offline Files in Windows XP Professional can help
you be more productive. You can use this feature on
a portable computer, or on a desktop computer that occasionally
connects to your workplace network. For example, this
feature is useful if you are working at home on a desktop
computer, and need to automatically get files off the
network whenever you connect.
The
files that you select are automatically downloaded from
shared folders on the network and stored on your computer.
When you disconnect, the files are available to use.
When you reconnect to the network, your changes are
added to the files on the network in a process called
synchronization. If someone else on the network made
changes to the same file, you can save your version,
keep the other version, or save both.
To
set up your computer to use offline files
1.
Open My Computer. (Click Start, and then click
My Computer.)
2. On
the Tools menu, click Folder Options
3. On
the Offline Files tab, make sure that the Enable
Offline Files check box is selected as shown below.
4. Select
Synchronize all offline files before logging off
to get a full synchronization. Leave it unselected for
a quick synchronization. A full synchronization ensures
that you have the most current version of every shared
network file that you work with offline. A quick synchronization
ensures that you have complete versions of your offline
files, although they may not be the most current versions.
You might select a quick synchronization if you are
the only person working on a file or if you do not need
the most current version of a file.
If you want to control which offline files are synchronized,
when they are synchronized, and whether Windows prompts
you before synchronizing your files, you can use Synchronization
Manager.
To
make a file or folder available to you offline
After
you set up your computer to use offline files, you need
to make shared network files available to you offline.
1. Open
My Computer. (Click Start, and then click My
Computer.)
2. Double–click
a network drive to view its contents. If My Computer
does not contain links to any network drives, you need
to assign a drive letter to a shared network resource.
3. Click
the shared network file or folder that you want to make
available offline.
4. On
the File menu, click Make Available Offline
This option appears on the File menu only after
you set up your computer to use offline files as described
above.
5. To
make a network file or folder unavailable offline,
right–click the item, and click Make Available Offline
again to clear the check mark.
To
view a list of all of the shared network files that
are available offline
1.
On the Tools menu, click Folder Options
2. On
the Offline Files tab, click View Files.
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