Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Offline Files Policy Settings Introduced in Windows Vista

The following Group Policy settings for managing Offline Files were introduced with Windows Vista and still apply in Windows 7:

• Configure Slow-Link Mode This policy setting allows you to enable and configure the slow-link mode of Offline Files. When Offline Files is operating in slow-link mode, all file requests are satisfied from the Offline Files cache, just as when the user is working offline. However, the user can initiate synchronization manually on demand. When the synchronization completes, the system continues to operate in the slow-link mode until the user transitions the share to online mode.
  If you enable this policy setting, Offline Files will operate in slow-link mode if the endto- end network throughput between the client and the server is below the throughput threshold parameter or if the network latency is above the latency threshold parameter. You can configure slow-link mode by specifying thresholds for throughput (bits per second) and latency (in milliseconds) for specific UNC paths. You can specify one or both threshold parameters.
  When a share is transitioned to slow-link mode, the user can force the share to transition to online mode. However, the system periodically checks to see whether a connection to a server is slow. If the connection is slow, the share will again be transitioned to slow-link mode.
  Note You can use wildcards (*) for specifying UNC paths.
  If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Offline Files will not transition to slow-link mode.
  Note The Configure Slow-Link Mode policy setting replaces the Configure Slow Link Speed policy setting used by earlier versions of Windows.
• Limit Disk Space Used By Offline Files This policy limits the amount of the computer's disk space that can be used to store offline files. Using this setting, you can configure how much total disk space (in megabytes) is used for storing offline files. This includes the space used by automatically cached files and files that are specifically made available offline. Files can be cached automatically if the user accesses a file on an automatic caching network share. This setting also disables the ability to adjust the disk space limits on the Offline Files cache using the Offline Files Control Panel tool. This prevents users from trying to change the option while a policy setting controls it.
  If you enable this policy setting, you can specify the disk space limit for offline files and also specify how much of that disk space can be used by automatically cached files.
  If you disable this policy setting, the system limits the space that offline files occupy to 25 percent of the total space on the drive where the Offline Files cache is located. The limit for automatically cached files is 100 percent of the total disk space limit.
  If you do not configure this policy setting, the system limits the space that offline files occupy to 25 percent of the total space on the drive where the Offline Files cache is located. The limit for automatically cached files is 100 percent of the total disk space limit. However, the users can change these values using the Offline Files Control Panel tool.
  If you enable this setting and specify a total size limit greater than the size of the drive hosting the Offline Files cache and that drive is the system drive, the total size limit is automatically adjusted downward to 75 percent of the size of the drive. If the cache is located on a drive other than the system drive, the limit is automatically adjusted downward to 100 percent of the size of the drive.
  If you enable this setting and specify a total size limit less than the amount of space currently used by the Offline Files cache, the total size limit is automatically adjusted upward to the amount of space currently used by offline files. The cache is then considered full.
  If you enable this setting and specify an auto-cached space limit greater than the total size limit, the auto-cached limit is automatically adjusted downward to equal the total size limit.
  Note The Limit Disk Space Used By Offline Files policy setting replaces the Default Cache Size policy setting used by earlier versions of Windows.
• Turn On Economical Application Of Administratively Assigned Offline Files This policy setting allows you to turn on economical application of administratively assigned Offline Files.
  If you enable this policy setting, only new files and folders in administratively assigned folders are synchronized at logon. Files and folders that are already available offline are skipped and are synchronized later.
  If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, all administratively assigned folders are synchronized at logon.