Preventing Offline Files from Caching Certain Files

The use of offline files can make working remotely all that much easier. This process copies files from a shared network location to a local computer, and visa versa. Obviously, the larger the files being copied, the longer the synchronization of offline files will take. It is because of this that it is sometimes better to exclude certain files type all together. Audio and video files are a good example of files that have the propensity to be very large and can be excluded with ease.

Begin this process by opening your preferred group policy editing tool and creating a new group policy object and browsing to computer configuration > administrative templates > network > offline files. Here you will find a setting labeled “Files not cached”. Here you can specify the extensions of the types of files you do not want cached when offline synchronization occurs. By adding extensions such as AVI, MP3, or WMV you should eliminate a lot of potential problem files.

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Chris Sanders is the network administrator for one of the largest public school systems in the state of Kentucky. Chris's specialties include general network administration, windows server 2003, wireless networking, and security. You can view Chris' personal website at www.chrissanders.org.