If you have multiple computers available at home or in the office but only one of them has a nice big hard drive with lots of space available to save data, the offline data synchronization function in a Windows 7 network could be useful. The functionality of offline files is not made for storing large amounts of data: it is used to read and also modify folders of files or documents from a computer, which however reside in another PC, even when the latter is turned off. To work, file synchronization requires the creation of an internal network between PCs (or via home router or by sharing the internet connection) which can be done by sharing files and printers between Windows PCs.
For the first thing, therefore, from the PC that hosts the folder you want to view offline (therefore even if that PC was off or not connected), you need to share a folder visible online .
The basic configuration to do this is open the Run window from the Start menu (or press the Windows-R combination) and write \\ ip address or, for example, \\ 192.168.XX or the internal ip address of the computer where you find the folder to share. To find this address on the PC that acts as the server (i.e. from which the data is taken), check the connection details of the internal network. Once connected to the machine (it may be necessary to enter the username and password to access that PC) you should see the shared folders of other computers.
By right-clicking on one of the folders, on the one you want to see offline, you must choose the Connect network drive option to see that folder as if it were a computer hard disk, in the computer section of the resource explorer. This sharing works only if the PC with the shared folder is turned on and connected, otherwise the connection will be, logically, impossible.
However, you can make sure that a folder of your choice among the shared ones is available offline from the other computers using the Windows 7 Sync synchronization center .
Once the folder has been mapped as a remote hard disk, open it and press the right button on the sub-folder that contains the files you want to view even offline and choose the " always available offline " option.
If this option is not visible, you need to activate the synchronization center from the Control Panel .
Once all the files have been processed, you will get a message saying that they will also be available offline.
If you share a single folder, you can make even a single file available offline.
If you turn off the PC that actually contains that folder or that mapped file, it remains visible and modifiable from the other computer.
Note that the list of shared folders should always be visible because they remain cached but will not be openable and viewable until the host PC is connected to the internet.
The files available offline are copied to the PC and, if they are modified or if new files are created, they will also be created and modified on the shared folder, when the server computer is switched on and connected. A synchronization takes place which can be done automatically or manually . To synchronize a single file, some selected files or a folder, manually, just press the right mouse button and choose Synchronize (do not consider the eventual synchronize item with Groove).
The same thing can be done from the synchronization center (from the control panel) which is the utility for managing offline files and synchronized folders.
To set up an automatic synchronization, from the Windows Sync center, press on the offline files folder and choose Schedule for offline files . From the window that opens, you can choose which folders to synchronize. The synchronization, just to clarify further, serves to make sure that any changes on the files made by one of the computers are also replicated on the other connected PCs.
If you edit an offline file at the same time that someone else on the same network edits the same file, there may be a conflict of changes that Windows will report. Any conflicts can be easily resolved from the synchronization center by clicking on the View conflicts item on the left. It will then open a list of all unsynchronized files with the option to choose which version to save in the shared folder and to save the modified version to another folder on your computer.
You can add a layer of protection to your offline files using EFS ( Encrypting File System ), which is disabled by default and needs to be enabled. From the sync center, press the link on the left that says: Manage files offline and enable encryption .
The functionality of offline files is often underestimated and little used but it can be a very convenient thing to keep some files shared between computers, without the need for both to be turned on at the same time . It is not the same as programs like Dropbox which instead synchronize files online over the internet.
On any Windows PC, the same thing can also be done using the Microsoft SyncToy programs to synchronize multiple folders between multiple computers.
