Microsoft Windows Vista Unveiled

One of the main advantages of setting up a small network in your home or office is the ease with which you can share files and folders with other users. You simply share a folder with the network, and others can use the Network Explorer to open the shared folder and work with the files.

However, this benefit is lost when you disconnect from the network. For example, suppose that you have a notebook computer that you use to connect to the network while you're at the office. When you take the notebook on the road, you must disconnect from the network. Fortunately, you can still get network access of a sort when you are disconnected from the network (or offline). Windows Vista offers an Offline Files feature that enables you to preserve copies of network files on your computer. You can then view and work with these files as though you were connected to the network.

Vista's Offline Files feature is similar to the feature with the same name in XP Pro, but the Vista version is activated by default and is much easier to use. In fact, in Vista, all you have to do is right-click the network share and then click Always Available Offline. You no longer have to deal with the Offline Files Wizard, so creating offline files in Vista is a two-click operation.

To keep the offline files up-to-date, Vista offers a new tool called the Sync Center, which you open from the Control Panel by launching the Sync Center icon. Figure 8.34 shows the Sync Center window, which usually shows one or both of the following:

• Folders These are folders that you've set up for synchronization. When you make a network share available offline, it appears in the Offline Files folder.

• Devices These are removable devicessuch as USB flash drivesattached to your computer that you can set up sync partnerships with.

To synchronize, you have two choices:

• To synchronize everything, click the Sync All button.

• To synchronize a specific folder or device, click the item and then click the Sync button.