Domain Joined Laptops @ Home

[Tech13]

Folks of IT,

 

Please impart your wisdom on me.....

 

We are having an issue with our staff laptops.

 

Their Desktops are Redirected when onsite to ensure they get the same experience / desktop shortcuts etc.

 

When they go home they obviously can't see the network as there is no VPN etc

 

Because of this Excel, Word etc fail to open because I think they need to see / cache to the desktop.

 

I'm scratching my head on anyone got any ideas?

 

Functional Level 2016 (Server 22) and Win 10 21H2

 

Thanks

[Michael]

The Offline Files service needs to be running (as a starting point), and you can specify the max number of cached logons - both do-able via GPO. Your desktop share (on the server) should allow caching by default, unless an admin has turned this off.

[dsmith8]

We use Sync Centre/Offline Files you can set this as a GPO or Intune Policy and point it to your redirected desktop share. Then as long as the user signs in on site before taking it home it should then keep a copy.

[psydii]

I'm old enough to remember IntelliMirror (https://www.techrepublic.com/article/intellimirror-what-it-is-and-what-it-isnt/), and while that branding has long gone away, Offline files and folder redirection still exist. I have long been/was an advocate of this way of working, and it seems to be the immediate correct solution to your problem. It does have three caveats.

 

1) Files modified on a laptop away from your LAN, where there is no VPN, will diverge from what is on your LAN causing version conflicts and potentially data loss if say a member of staff becomes accustomed to leaving a laptop at home and working from a desktop or alternative in the building.

2) Large shared folders are particularly prone to version conflicts and it is not recommended to cache these... however colleagues obviously want to be able to cache these!

3) The Roaming Profile system has been depreciated since 2016, it still exists and where it works remains wonderful, however you will bump into problems, and have to give it up entirely when you move to OneDrive.

 

 

I would strongly recommend, if your staff are laptop based (and therefore use basically only that computer where ever they are working), that you migrate to OneDrive (via Known Folder Move: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/redirect-known-folders) as quickly as possible, perhaps without turning Offline Files back on, so the improvement is tied to the idea of OneDrive which gives you runway to start implementing other SharePoint/365 based solutions.

Edited January 19, 2023 by psydii

[3s-gtech]

AOVPN or even an Azure setup can make this so much easier.

 

The only potential cost with AOVPN is a server or VM to run it.

[pete]

Yup, we redirect desktops to a subfolder of their homedirs and forcibly make it available offline via GPO.

 

Does that mean they store endless rubbish on their desktops? Yes.

 

Is that their problem to deal with, provided I know it's safely backed up? Also yes.

[mrbios]

Offline files is/was a disaster that I'm so glad to be rid of. Shudder just reading the words... Have they "fixed it" in win10/11? or is it just used as a service for something else these days?

 

Assuming you can't just migrate most stuff to OneDrive....Setup AoVPN and make your staff laptops "always online" devices and remove any capability for data to save to the device itself. It works out brilliantly. Issue with a laptop? Need to issue a new one? Fresh image and good to go, the member of staff literally just has to remember to connect to their WiFi and they're covered. To top it off our device management is cloud based, so if the VPN doesn't connect and they need support, we can still support without needing things like teamviewer, quick support etc. so long as they still have an internet connection. Came in handy in the early days of AoVPN teething issues.

 

Thinking back to my XP/7 days of supporting laptops with offline files etc.... I'm surprised i didn't encounter more data loss issues.

Edited January 19, 2023 by mrbios

[sigma]

Folks of IT,

 

Please impart your wisdom on me.....

 

We are having an issue with our staff laptops.

 

Their Desktops are Redirected when onsite to ensure they get the same experience / desktop shortcuts etc.

 

When they go home they obviously can't see the network as there is no VPN etc

 

Because of this Excel, Word etc fail to open because I think they need to see / cache to the desktop.

 

I'm scratching my head on anyone got any ideas?

 

Functional Level 2016 (Server 22) and Win 10 21H2

 

Thanks

 

I think we have the same problem!

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/office-software/231227-normal-dotm-problems.html#post1981745

[MatthewL]

Who is in these days does not use a VPN, offline files should be banned. Asking for trouble, a VPN would make things so much easier.

[Norphy]

These days, I’d use Known Folders Redirection with OneDrive and/or Enterprise State Roaming. That way, you’re not reliant on god-awful offline files or a connection back to your network.

[FN-GM]

If they have their own desktop / start menu = Redirect to OneDrive

If they have a common desktop / start menu = Redirect to a local folder and use a method such as a script (a few are on here) to automatically populate that folder.

[DrCheese]

Avoid offline files like the plague - It's rubbish.

 

I do what @FN-GM does - Copy down a copy of our existing desktop/startmenu (With network stuff removed) & redirect to that.

Files are all on onedrive anyway so that avoids that issue.

 

Now I have AOVPN it's not as big an issue as it once was anyhow.

[Mr.Ben]

I Used to redirect the Start Menu to a folder on C:, using a MSI to install the icons initially then keeping up to date with GPP

[psydii]

Offline files worked perfectly for me over 15 years across many thousand users and devices (with a wee wobble in the lead up to and shortly after 2775511). I've found OneDrive provides more friction and problems, however they are more quickly visible and resolvable for the end user. We are 'pure' OneDrive for offline access to files these days. (Offline files still is there for the handful of users that need access to legacy file shares, it still seems to work and I've not had any issues that could be traced back to the offline files system).

 

I would strongly recommend that you disable offline files for shared devices though, caching files for users new to a machine chews up server, network and desktop time leading to slow logons. OneDrive on the other hand kicks in after the logon is complete, so files may initially appear to be missing until the client has had a chance to pole sharepoint online for what files should appear where and present them on the user's local filesystem.

[KK20]

It took me two years to wean people off using their desktops and my documents as storage areas. Two years of limiting quotas. Now staff use onedrive all is well both home and away.