Files remain 'Offline (not connected)' after connection to the network
HiWhen I log into a laptop which is connected to the networkmy home folder's Offline status is: Online. When I disconnect the network cable the laptop detects the change and the Offline status changes to: Offline (not connected). So far all is well.When I then reconnect the network cable the laptop detects it has a connection again (the icon in the notifications area changes to reflect this and I can get on the internet). However, the home folder status remains: Offline (not connected).This is causing major synchronisation problems and resulting in lost data. Can anyone explain this behaviour?We are using Vista and the home folder is on a Windows 2008 Server.Thanks,Matt
July 9th, 2009 2:12pm

Hi Matt, Thank you for posting. Lets try the following to narrow down the issue. 1. Please check if you can access the share with \\server\share folder after it reconnects. 2. If there are other computers on the network, please check if the issue occurs on them as well. Please also reproduce the issue and capture a screenshot on the Sync Center: 1. Connect to the network and ensure that the home folder's Offline status is: Online. 2. Disconnect the network cable. 3. Reconnect the network cable and ensure that you can connect to Internet. 4. Please open Sync Center and capture a screenshot. 5. You may also capture a screenshot where you found the home folder status remains: Offline (not connected). How to Capture a screenshot ================== 1) Press the Print Screen key (PrtScn) on your keyboard. 2) Click the "Start" menu, type "mspaint" in the Search Bar and Press Enter. 3) In the Paint program, click the "Edit" menu, click "Paste", click the "File" menu, and click "Save". 4) The "Save As" dialogue box will appear. Type a file name in the "File name:" box, for example: "screenshot". 5) Make sure "JPEG (*.JPG;*.JPEG;*.JPE;*.JFIF)" is selected in the "Save as type" box, click Desktop on the left pane and then click "Save". Please use Windows Live SkyDrive (http://www.skydrive.live.com/) to upload the files and share therir URL with us. Thanks.Nicholas Li - MSFT
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July 13th, 2009 2:41pm

Hi NicholasThank you for your reply. I have managed to work out that the issue is to do with file permissions. Would you be able to post the file permissions that are required on a network sharein order for its subfolders to be available offline? Specifically we are talking about a Home Directory share containing users' home directories. Wewant to grant the minimum of permissions at the share level but stillallow the owners of the subfolders full access to their ownhome directory subfolders.Thanks,Matt
July 20th, 2009 3:42pm

We are also having this problem. Have you managed to fix it? if so could you suggest anything we could check to do with the file permissions?
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September 8th, 2009 1:26pm

Basically I worked out the following unsatisfactory solution:On the Home Directory shareI granted the Everyone group access to 'This folder Only' for the following permissions:Traverse FolderList folderRead AttribsRead Ex AttribsRead Permissions It probablyrequires less than this.Matt
September 8th, 2009 6:11pm

I always had this problem in Vista and Windows 7, namely with my desktop workstation. When there was an interruption in network connectivity, my network documents would become offline, icons turn to grayed out X's, and the content would be unavailable, even after I was reconnected! Logging off the user and back on wouldn't restore the file availability or change the offline status. The way to solve this problem with this synchronization is to restart the Offline Files service 'CscService', or better yet, disable it or set it to manual startup. Microsoft is awesome, but IMHO Offline Files seems to cause too many headaches and shouldn't be enabled by default. (Maybe for mobile users) I am not prepared to modify permissions on user directories for this service or 'feature'.
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September 29th, 2009 2:37am

We changed the permissions on the home folder but didnt propogate the permissions to child objects, so it wasn't really a security risk as users could still only see the contents of their own folder. Anyway thanks Matt, it worked great!
September 29th, 2009 10:14am

I've been struggling with this for a couple of days now. Here's are my observations and solution: Status bar on bottom: changes from "Offline status: Online" to "Offline status: (not connected)" Ribbon bar on top: The "Sync" and "Work Offline" button disappears System setup: Windows 7 on laptop/desktop and Windows Server 2008 RC Problem occurs when network connection is lost. With a laptop this can happen for a number of reasons: unplugging network cable, turning off networks with switch, lost wi-fi connections, etc. Starting and stopping the Offline service didn't work for me Rebooting computer does recover from the problem but is cumbersome and may not be feasible sometimes Solution is (like what Matt posted): On my Home directory share: add NETWORK to "This folder only" with "List folder / read data" permissions. Microsoft should fix this bug. Thomas
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October 14th, 2009 11:07pm

OK- After extensive testing and seaching the internet and reading hundreds of posts, I've finally figured this one out!! I am going to try to explain with as much info as possible so as to assist others in finally putting it to bed! I will start off with a config example just for reference (plug in your own names): Server = FS1 Share 1 = \\FS1\UserData\Folders$ (for all Redirected User Folders, i.e. Documents, Desktop, Contacts, Searches, etc.) Share 2 = \\FS1\UserData\Profiles$ (for the roaming profiles, separate since the cache on the share needs to be disabled) Two sample users: Jim Smith, Mary Jones Jim's Home Directory: \\FS1\UserData\Folders$\JSmith Mary's Home Directory: \\FS1\UserData\Folders$\MJones Mapped H: to \\FS1\UserData\Folders$\%USERNAME%\My Documents for simplicity sake. Here COMES THE PROBLEM!!! Microsoft says in their step-by-step documentation to set the following permissions on the *SHARE* (in this case, the Folders$ directory): SYSTEM: FULL CONTROL This folder, subfolders and files CREATOR OWNER: FULL CONTROL Subfolders and files only {Users needing access to the Share} In our case, we used Authenticated Users: Assign the following to "This folder only": List Folder/Read Data Create Folders / Append Data While this accomplished my (and I assume many of your) goals, which would be that John can only see \\FS1\UserData\Folders$\JSmith and Mary can only see \\FS1\UserData\Folders$\MJones and neither would see each other's or any of the other usernames under the \Folders$ share, it DOESN'T WORK and results in the issues we've all described and witnessed. The PC goes offline never to return again [automatically] after a reconnect. Well, you can reboot, but that's just not an option. Another problem, at least on Win 7 is that under Sync Center, you get the "There are no details for this sync partnership." message when you double-click on Offline Files. The Solution: Add the following permissions for "Authenticated Users, this folder only" on the *Share*, i.e. \\FS1\UserData\Folders$: Traverse Folder/Execute File Read Attributes Read Extended Attributes Read Permissions So you will have 6 boxes checked. Problem Solved! Caveat #1. Any user can now type \\FS1\UserData\Folders$ in Windows Explorer and see everyone else's user ID (UGH!) Not good for security. Fix #1: Apparently there's an add-on I've heard about for WS2008 and WS2003 that basically hides directory names for folders to which a user has no access. Not covered here, but Google it! That's also why we add the $ to the share - to make it hidden in the first place - ok, so a semi-power user like John can take a look at his share and probably figure out Mary's, but hey, a good security approach is like Shrek, or was it onions? ....layers Caveat #2. After doing the above, if you go to "Manage Offline Files", "View your offline files", you will see every user's name (albeit just the folder name) in the Offline Cache!! (UGGHH #2). Fix #2: See Fix #1, perhaps if Windows can't see the folder, it won't add it to the cache? Haven't tested, but if someone beats me to it, please post. So there you have it. I hope I have been helpful and you are able to plug in your organization's values to resolve the issue.
July 2nd, 2010 7:17am

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