Shared "My Documents" '- why is EVERYTHING made "available..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.work_remotely (More info?)

I was trying to keep the "My Documents" folder between my Desktop PC
and my Tablet PC in sync by sharing the desktop's "My Documents" and
then redirecting the TPC's "My Document" folder to that share (using
TweakUI). My intention was, that I would then declare most (but not
all!) of the content of the remote folder as "make available offline",
thus having a partial copy with me that is automatically kept in sync.

What I did NOT want to make available offline were the "My Music" and
the "My Pictures" folders since they are so large that this would
already completely fill my TPC's harddisk.

However, strange enough, after redirecting that folder, when I
navigate on the TCP to the My Documents folder, I see each and every
files and also ALL subfolders marked as "available offline" and -
worse - that menu entry entry is grayed out (but checked!), i.e. I can
not even unmark any file or subfolder from being "available offline".

What could cause this??? Why does declaring a shared folder on another
system to be the "My Documents" folder declare that ENTIRE FOLDER PLUS
ITS SUBFOLDERS as being "available offline".

I don't get, what one has to do with the other and why this option is
set automatically.

Michael

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.work_remotely (More info?)

The sharing mechanism in windows works with "inheritance". Basically this
means that when you share a folder all the folders beneath it are
aoutmatically shared too ! You should manually "unshare" the subfolders you
don't want to synchronize.

Best regards

"Michael Moser" wrote:

> I was trying to keep the "My Documents" folder between my Desktop PC
> and my Tablet PC in sync by sharing the desktop's "My Documents" and
> then redirecting the TPC's "My Document" folder to that share (using
> TweakUI). My intention was, that I would then declare most (but not
> all!) of the content of the remote folder as "make available offline",
> thus having a partial copy with me that is automatically kept in sync.
>
> What I did NOT want to make available offline were the "My Music" and
> the "My Pictures" folders since they are so large that this would
> already completely fill my TPC's harddisk.
>
> However, strange enough, after redirecting that folder, when I
> navigate on the TCP to the My Documents folder, I see each and every
> files and also ALL subfolders marked as "available offline" and -
> worse - that menu entry entry is grayed out (but checked!), i.e. I can
> not even unmark any file or subfolder from being "available offline".
>
> What could cause this??? Why does declaring a shared folder on another
> system to be the "My Documents" folder declare that ENTIRE FOLDER PLUS
> ITS SUBFOLDERS as being "available offline".
>
> I don't get, what one has to do with the other and why this option is
> set automatically.
>
> Michael
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.work_remotely (More info?)

"ProMind Help" <ProMind Help@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:32866A30-7CEA-45B3-B639-5409205B30B4@microsoft.com...
> The sharing mechanism in windows works with "inheritance". Basically
this
> means that when you share a folder all the folders beneath it are
> aoutmatically shared too ! You should manually "unshare" the
subfolders you
> don't want to synchronize.

Sorry - but I don't agree:

first: when I share a folder a dialog pops up asking me, whether I
want to share "this folder only" or "this folder and all its
subfolders". Of course I have choosen "This folder only" with the
intention to later add specific subfolders within that folder that I
want to be copied as well. Why would there be such a dialog, when one
can only specify entire subtrees?

second: when I select any subfolders of the top-folder (which are ALL
marked as "makeavailable offline") the menu option is checked but
*grayed out*, i.e. one can NOT deselect individual subfolders as you
suggest.

So - I fear - there is again some classic "Microsoft mechanisms" at
work that try to "outsmart" me (I fancy: "the user can't possible want
to sync only a subset of "My Documents", so let's override his/her
decisions for this special folder and sync all subfolders as well..."
||-o ).

Or why else can't I make the "My Documents" folder (and only THIS
folder) available offline PLUS a few specific subfolders of it BUT NOT
"My Music", "My Pictures", etc.?

Michael

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.work_remotely (More info?)

I had exactly the same experience and the same reaction as you. There is
definitely something peculiar to trying to use an offline share as "My
Documents." The inability to uncheck "Make available offline" seems limited
to the system folders. To fix, I had to disable all offline content and
delete all the offline files from my computer.

I ended up doing the following, which is not quite as convenient, but close
and avoids the problem:

I mapped a drive letter on my laptop to the share on my desktop. I select
which subfolders I wanted available offline. Then to save or access those
files, I have to access the drive letter of the share. This is not quite as
convenient as accessinng My Documents, but it's always easily accessible
from any file dialog, since the main drop down always lists all the drives
on the system.

I also added "My Computer" to the Taskbar, which lets me drill down into any
folder on any drive, achieving the equivalent of the "My Documents" being a
menu (as opposed to a link) off the Start button menu. You could instead
just add your new drive letter, making your shared files and folders more
accessible (fewer mouse clicks) than if they were in "My Documents."

To do this, right click on the taskbar, select Toolbars | New Toolbar...
Select either "My Computer" or whatever folder you want to access. In my
case, I dragged it over to the left (you will need to unlock your toolbar to
do this) next to the Start button and then dragged the stardard view of the
active programs all the way back over as far as they would go, so they cover
all the subfolders and files. All that shows on my Taskbar is the name of my
computer and the little arrow next to it (">>"). When you click on that
arrow, it pops up like the Start menu and you can select whatever
files/folders you want to access.

I hope this helps.

- Colin

"Michael Moser" <michael-nospam.moser@nospam.freesurf.ch> wrote in message
news:uDrwbo5tEHA.3152@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> "ProMind Help" <ProMind Help@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:32866A30-7CEA-45B3-B639-5409205B30B4@microsoft.com...
>> The sharing mechanism in windows works with "inheritance". Basically
> this
>> means that when you share a folder all the folders beneath it are
>> aoutmatically shared too ! You should manually "unshare" the
> subfolders you
>> don't want to synchronize.
>
> Sorry - but I don't agree:
>
> first: when I share a folder a dialog pops up asking me, whether I
> want to share "this folder only" or "this folder and all its
> subfolders". Of course I have choosen "This folder only" with the
> intention to later add specific subfolders within that folder that I
> want to be copied as well. Why would there be such a dialog, when one
> can only specify entire subtrees?
>
> second: when I select any subfolders of the top-folder (which are ALL
> marked as "makeavailable offline") the menu option is checked but
> *grayed out*, i.e. one can NOT deselect individual subfolders as you
> suggest.
>
> So - I fear - there is again some classic "Microsoft mechanisms" at
> work that try to "outsmart" me (I fancy: "the user can't possible want
> to sync only a subset of "My Documents", so let's override his/her
> decisions for this special folder and sync all subfolders as well..."
> ||-o ).
>
> Or why else can't I make the "My Documents" folder (and only THIS
> folder) available offline PLUS a few specific subfolders of it BUT NOT
> "My Music", "My Pictures", etc.?
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>