With a few hacks and alterations I've set up 'Offline Files' on my XP desktop. My work is stored on a Samba network share running on a Debian GNU/Linux machine.

A quick introduction from Microsoft for those who don't know what 'Offlines Files' means in this context:

Using offline files, you can work on shared network files, even when you’re not connected to the network. And, if your drive is formatted as NTFS, you can encrypt those files to secure data on your local computer, particularly useful when you’re traveling with your laptop and leave it in your hotel room or car.

One problem with the standard setup of Offline Files is that many common file types such as Microsoft Access .mdb files are excluded from synchronisation. I don't use replication or any sync scheme other than Offline Files, so I chose to modify this behaviour.

You can change the file types which are excluded by editing the setting

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Offline Files\Files not cached

in the Group Policy Editor. I chose not to exclude any file types, by enabling this configuration option and leaving the file type fields blank. Be sure to log off and back on again before proceeding, or it won't work!!

A further complication (and rather an annoying one) is that there is no option to change the location on your local filesystem of the cached files storage. They live in the 'CSC' subfolder of your Windows folder.

Unless you have the Windows Resource Kit, the workaround for this issue involves a small, free utility called junction.exe from SysInternals.

Using this utility I was able to make a 'junction' or 'symbolic link' from the CSC folder to a folder on the drive of my choice. On my desktop machine which had not been used for Offline Files before I was able to do this whilst Windows was operating normally. If Offline Files is configured and the CSC folder is locked, however, (as it was on my laptop), one has to reboot into Safe Mode. Move the contents of CSC to your target folder (but don't delete the empty CSC) and use Junction.exe to make the junction or symlink.

So far it seems to be working well, but a couple of 'gotchas' remain: Some 'gotchas' remain:

• With Offline Files enabled, XP's Fast User Switching functionality is no longer available. I like to use this feature to secure my machine when I'm away, or to let a friend or family member use my laptop without first closing my applications and browser windows.

• I discovered a very irritating gotcha! when I switched my Linux box back on this morning. The Offline Files sync tool says I have to close my open applications before I can synchronise! That's not how I work, and it's typical of Microsoft's "reboot reboot reboot" philosophy. I leave multiple windows open, and I leave my machine running or at least in Standby mode 24/7. It's a pain in the neck to close all my apps so right now I'm in the curious position of working with my files 'offline' despite the network being connected!

  I understand there may be a workaround to this, and I'm looking into it.

• The volume name of my network share changes when the server is offline, and ThumbsPlus is getting confused. I'm not sure yet who I will overcome this.

The weird thing is that a few newly created files had disappeared, and I thought uh-oh here we go. After this /online sync they have reappeared again. Strange. Also potentially worrying, what if that were to happen on my laptop when I'm 1 month into a 12 month trip to the other side of the world?!

Verification:

The Offline Files Folder lists 31,787 files synchronised & always available.

...and a check in Linux shows that number to be correct.