A dead sync target with Offline folders

Hi,

I'm using offine folders under Vista.

I mapped a drive and set it to "always available offline" and synchronised -
which was great by the way.

Unfortunately the system that i'm synchronising with has died and can't be
repaired so I can't sync with the original files anymore. That's not a major
problem as I have the data, but I can't clean up the offline copies or the
sync partnership without being online to that system (which can never happen
again).

How can I clean up the offline files without going online (by the way,
"delete offline copy" does nothing).

Thanks!

Hi,
"Delete offline copy" is probably not working due to the presence of ghosts
in your cache. For now, one option is to reinitialize the Offline Files
cache. However that would also blow away all other data in your cache from
other servers/shares as well, including changes you made offline. If you do
want to go that route, here are the instructions:
To reset the offline files cache, perform the following steps(note - you'll
lose everything that you made available offline on the client):
1.. In registry, create a DWORD value called FormatDatabase under
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC\Parameters. To this value, assign
the value of 1.
2.. Restart the computer.

Thanks,
Shubhankar

"Flitter" <Flitter@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6E462616-B58A-4B04-A287-BA4CDE86A39C@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm using offine folders under Vista.
>
> I mapped a drive and set it to "always available offline" and
> synchronised -
> which was great by the way.
>
> Unfortunately the system that i'm synchronising with has died and can't be
> repaired so I can't sync with the original files anymore. That's not a
> major
> problem as I have the data, but I can't clean up the offline copies or the
> sync partnership without being online to that system (which can never
> happen
> again).
>
> How can I clean up the offline files without going online (by the way,
> "delete offline copy" does nothing).
>
> Thanks!

'Shubhankar Sanyal [MSFT Wrote:
> ;301467']Hi,
> "Delete offline copy" is probably not working due to the presence of
> ghosts
> in your cache. For now, one option is to reinitialize the Offline Files
> cache. However that would also blow away all other data in your cache
> from
> other servers/shares as well, including changes you made offline. If
> you do
> want to go that route, here are the instructions:
>
> *To reset the offline files cache, perform the following steps(note -
> you'll
> lose everything that you made available offline on the client):
> 1.. In registry, create a DWORD value called FormatDatabase under
> HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC\Parameters. To this value,
> assign
> the value of 1.
> 2.. Restart the computer.*

I just registered to say thanks for this, I had precisely the same
problem and this has fixed it for me.

One thing to mention is that the key "Parameters" needs to be created
under "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC" before you can enter
the DWORD value "FormatDatabase" under it.

People shouldn't be put off because the key "Parameters" doesn't exist,
I was initially put off but after doing a complete backup I went for it
and it worked perfectly.

Once restarted this new key is removed together with the annoying dead
sync-links.

I'll remind people what you said though..

-\"HOWEVER THAT WOULD ALSO
_BLOW_AWAY_ALL_OTHER_DATA_IN_YOUR_CACHE_FROM_OTHER_SERVERS/SHARES_AS_WELL,_INCLUDING_CHANGES_YOU_MADE_OFFLINE.\\"_-
Many thanks again,

Mark.


--
Big Mark

Thanks Shubhankar. That was exactly what I needed too.

Despite bad experiences with offline files in Windows XP, I made the
mistake of enabling offline files on my Vista notebook against a share
from Windows Home Server. Every file gave an Access Denied sync error
every time! I've been reading the long list of things that might fix
the problem but - honestly - it's much safer just to disable the shonky
CSC thing and use a straightforward folder synchronisation tool. One
that actually works.

Nick.


--
nlangmaid
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