Cannot Remove Offline Files from Sync Center
I believe I have searched the history of Sync Center issues enough that this is an issue that has not yet been addressed. If so, please point me to the proper article. Thanks! I was making folders available for offline use in my Win 7 Ultimate edition. We are in the process of moving to NAS servers (with new network names) and I know syncing with NAS servers is not working correctly right now. So I have unchecked all the folders to make then unavailable for offline. I have also gone to "Manage Offline Files" and tried deleting all offline files for the network drive. However, there is one Network Drive that I cannot get to delete no matter what I try. I have tried Deleting Offline Copy for the drive (which it says is successful), but the network drive and a folder hierarchy remain when I view Offline Files. Also, when I view this folder path in Windows Explorer, it gives a status of "Offline Availability: Available". I find this odd since the Make Available Offline box is not set for any of the files or folders in this path. Also, this message seems odd to me since the only valid messages I have found for this status are "Always Available" or "Not Available". I have also tried making all of these files and folders available offline again and removed and deleted, but I still have the same problem. I have also tried the registry key to reset the cache for offline files and that did not work either. Please help me get rid of this because it is driving me nuts! Thanks.
January 5th, 2010 11:42pm

Hi, Please refer to the following article to disable Offline Files How to Properly Disable Offline Files in Windows Vista Thanks, Novak
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January 7th, 2010 10:23am

I have noticed the same problem and also have not been able to resolve. The issue is not disabling offline file sync in general but rather rather removing file sync for an individual network file folder once it has been selected for offline sync.
January 7th, 2010 5:49pm

Had the same problem few months back . In the end had to reinitialize the offline files cache all together: Open up registry editor (WARNING: Only for Advanced Users) Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Csc Add a new key (folder) called Parameters Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Csc\Parameters, add a new DWORD called FormatDatabase and set its value to 1 You will need to reboot the PC afterwards.
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January 8th, 2010 6:03pm

Thanks for this, it resolved my problem! I had tried the other method of using the command line to add a registry setting to reset the database, but that did not work. I just tried this method of using REGEDIT and the above steps and it resolved my problem! Thanks again!
January 15th, 2010 12:27am

I also was unable to get a offline sync to go away, it would 'delete' then resync them back every chance it got. the regedit method bricked my machine you didn't mention to use a 32bit or 64bit dword, I used the 64bit. Never booted again = BSOD reinstalling the os now
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January 24th, 2010 9:48pm

I used the method on Windows 7 64 bit, DWORD not QWORD and my laptop survived. The problem I have is that, occasionally, Microsoft Access 2007 databases get screwed. The version on my Windows 7 64 bit desktop (no Synchronisation) and my Windows 2008 SP2 server remain perfect but the version on my laptop (also Windows 7 64 bit and probably at the same KB level as my desktop) suddenly claims to be zero bytes. At least I can follow the above steps to fix the issue
February 23rd, 2010 11:40pm

You must create this as a 32-bit DWORD, not 64-bit. I learned this the hard way as well. If you create the 64-bit DWORD, you will get a BSoD when you reboot - Win7 x64 will then take you to the system recovery wizard (or whatever it's called), and it'll spend 15 minutes churning before telling you it couldn't find anything wrong. If you reboot, you'll end up in a BSoD reboot cycle - just enter safe mode by hitting F5 or F8 (I just it them alternately when booting b/c I can never remember which it is). Then you can open regedit and delete the 64-bit key and add the 32-bit key, do a reboot and it'll work. Good luck. Cheers
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April 8th, 2010 9:59pm

Will Windows see this DWORD value only once? Is it necessary to remove this DWORD after a reboot? I don't want it to keep clearing the database, obviously.
May 19th, 2010 5:18pm

The value is deleted after the reboot so you don't have to worry about it resetting all the time.
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May 19th, 2010 10:13pm

Hello, I have a problem with offline files in windows vista business. It doesn't delete the files when I go through "view your offline files" in 'offline files' in the control panel and select "delete online copy". Can you tell me how to remove them?
October 8th, 2010 12:35pm

Hi, Ive got the same problem with one of our users. When im in the registry, i have browsed to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Csc and i already have a folder called properties in there. Am i to delete that, or use it and insert a new DWORD called FormatDatabase and set its value to 1?? There are other DWORD's in there already.
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November 4th, 2010 6:15am

Thank you very much. I had the problem of not being able to delete sync files and followed your instructions, which solved the problem. Best Regards Mark
March 30th, 2011 11:28am

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