Working with Offline Files

As clunky as Briefcase is, it's no surprise that Microsoft came up with a new way to work with network files when you're on the road. Windows XP Professional lets you store shared network files on your portable PC (or any PC, for that matter) so that they're available even when you're not connected to the network. The next time you reconnect, any changes you've made to the files are synchronized with the version of the files still on the network.

Microsoft calls this working with offline files. I call it a neat way to do what you need to do when you're on the road.

The big disappointment is that this new method is available only if you're running Windows XP Professional. (And even then, you can't use offline files if you have Fast User Switching turned on you have to choose one or the other, not both.)

CAUTION

If you're using Windows XP Home Edition, you're stuck with using Briefcase. Offline files are available only on XP Professional.

Configure Your PC for Offline Files

To set up your computer to use offline files, follow these steps:

1.	From the Control Panel, click the Folder Options icon. NOTE If you and another user both make offline changes to the same file, you can choose to save your version, the other version, or both versions.
2.	When the Folder Options utility opens, select the Offline Files tab.
3.	Be sure that the Enable Offline Files option is checked.
4.	Check the Synchronize All Offline Files Before Logging Off option.
5.	Click OK.

Make a File Available Offline

After your computer is properly set up, you can select which files or folders you want to work on offline. Follow these steps:

1.	From My Computer, open the network drive and folder that contains the file or subfolder you want to take offline.
2.	Select the file or folder, then select File, Make Available Offline.

Manually Synchronize Offline Files

By default, your offline files will be automatically synchronized the next time you connect to your network. If you want to manually synchronize a file or configure the basic synchronization settings you use Windows XP's Synchronization Manager. (You open the Synchronization Manager by clicking the Start button, then selecting All Programs, Accessories, Synchronize.) All you have to do is select the item(s) you want to synchronize, and then click the Synchronize button.