Limit Offline Files for 1 user account

[Andy_Corrin]

Hi,

First time poster here....

Hoping someone can offer advice.... Looking at the Offline files feature (winXP), i understand it an all and have no probs with setting it up etc.... what i would like to know if there is a way to get it sync for just one user account that i can specify???

Basically, the scenario.... A teacher has a laptop and needs to have their HomeDrive available offline, however i want the client PC to sync only that one persons Homedrive... If another user logs on, their drives are mapped up (inc. Homedrive) and as a redirected folder it automatically adds that folder to the sync folders list.... This means that everytime the teacher who's laptop it is logs on/off it sync's every user who's ever logged onto their laptop.

What is the best way to disable the sync redirected folders EXCEPT the 1 user I specify?

hope this makes sense!

Cheers everyone

Andy

[jsnetman]

You could try setting "Administratively assigned offline files" to \\servername\userdocs\accountname this will then only allow that folder to synchronise only. You will have to reinitialise the csc folder for it to work. This setting can be done in user or machine policy, machine policy overides user policy.

[Andy_Corrin]

If thats set in GPO.... does that mean i'd have to give each laptop account its own specific GPO? How else will it distinguish which users home drive to Sync and exclude every other user?

Appreciate your help alot

[jsnetman]

Yes I see your point, this happens here when teachers use other peoples laptops. I have tried to discourage this but obviously it can't be enforced. If each teacher has their own laptop why on earth are they using others, the answer probably being well I forgot mine this morning. The answer should be tough.

[Andy_Corrin]

just having a think....

What if i set a GPO on the OU containing the Teachers laptops.... and in it tell it not to auto sync folders and that....

what if i then went to each teachers laptop and used GPEDIT.MSC to specifiy which folder to sync. Would that work you think, or would it not even pick up the local machine policy?

[Iain.Faulkner]

We have exactly the same issue as well.

All staff have a laptop, there are plenty of desktop PC's in classrooms and staff areas, why do they need to log on to somebody else's machine?

Vista seems to cope with it far better, if that laptop will take it.

[jsnetman]

You could write a little batch file to add a registry entry to flush the csc folder. You would have to instruct staff to only run it if the laptop is syncing other users folder and only after a full sync has been acheived by them. Store it in a shared location for them to run. How to re-initialize the offline files cache and database

[plexer]

It's an issue with offline files on xp you just have to live with it I'm afraid.

Ben

[plexer]

It's an issue with offline files on xp you just have to live with it I'm afraid.

Ben

[Andy_Corrin]

So i take it that none of you think setting the administrative offline folders bit in GPEDIT will work then?

As thats local to the machine.... it could be set specifically for the owner of that laptop and not set per user.

Hopefully that would work, maybe in conjunction with the script jsnetman mentioned just to make sure it gets rid of any new folders for different users that may have logged on. I'll have to do some checking on GPO's versus local policy via GPEDIT!

Just on a side note, What's different in VISTA/W7's handling of offline files compared to WinXP Iain? The laptop maybe able to cope with Vista, but i couldnt! haha

[AIT]

Just a thought would it be posible to do a wmi filter for a specific user?

therefore enabling you to only sync offline files for one user.

[Andy_Corrin]

I think that would bring us back to needing a GPO for each individual computer account

[AIT]

I think that would bring us back to needing a GPO for each individual computer account

well no just add a wmi filter for a group

[Andy_Corrin]

but how would i specifically set the UNC for the administrative offline folder.... ok i could filter it to a group of people (teachers) but i'd have to use %username% in the unc address so all the computers in the OU wouldnt just sync that 1 persons folder(the person I specified in the address in the GPO)... so surely it would add each teacher that logged onto the laptop??? i maybe wrong.... never messed around too much with filters.

I mean this way would stop pupils home drives from sync'ing, granted.

why oh why isnt there an option client side to specify which users can have offline files!!! haha

[Andy_Corrin]

A big thanks to everyone scratching their heads with me on this one by the way

haha