Question : WinXP Offline Files - Disaster Recovery

I have a handful of WinXP Pro users that are using offline files -- they are pointing to SERVERA to sync their data.

SERVERA has passed away and it's not coming back.  I was able to restore these files from tape backup to SERVERB.

What is the proper way to point these users to SERVERB?  I understand there is an offline files cache on their machine and I need to avoid as much conflict as possible.

Answer : WinXP Offline Files - Disaster Recovery

The Offline files function in windows XP is really called Client Side Caching. The files themselves are stored in a database like format under C:\Windows\CSC\

The offline files binaries use UNC paths to find files and compare them to the ones that are already on the server.

As long as the UNC path to the shared files is the same, the updates should continue as normal; however, CSC does have some bug, and MS decided that instead of fixing the bugs (because they are rather minor, but suck when you get hit with one) that they would just invest in teh Groove product.

So, with that being said, backup the user's who are using offline files just in case something goes corrupt. The easiest way to do this is to go to Folder Options > Offline Files > View Files, and copy them out of that folder into another one.

If the UNC paths cannot be the same, or they are the same and offline files still doesn't work, you'll have to kill offline files and then start over.

To completely clear offline files to start over:
1. Backup offline files as stated above.
2. Turn off offline files
3. Reboot into safe mode
4. Delete C:\Windows\CSC
5. Reboot into normal mode
6. Turn on offline files
7. Re-sync resetup with ServerB.

I wish there was a better solution, but offline files is what it is. Not very flexible and not very forgiving.
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