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The Offline Files feature of Windows 2000 and
later enables users to maintain a local copy of a shared folder so
they can work with the folder and its contents when the server is
unavailable. However, you might prefer to disable offline folders
in your network for security reasons or simply to avoid the
problems that will inevitably crop up when users try to take
advantage of offline folders.

You can configure client-side settings to
control offline files, either manually or through group policy. To
configure offline files manually, open any folder on the client
computer, choose Tools | Folder Options, and then click the Offline
Files tab. This is where you can enable or disable offline files
altogether. You can also configure how to synchronize offline
files, specify the size of the offline files cache, and configure a
few other minor options.

In situations where you need to configure a
number of offline settings on multiple computers, you can turn to
local or group policy to apply the settings. The policies are
located in the Administrative Templates | Network | Offline Files
branch of both the Computer Configuration and User Configuration
policy branches. You can set a variety of settings that disable
offline files, prevent the user from making offline file setting
changes, and fully configure offline file behavior.