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Synchronizing Individual Files and Folders with austin.utexas.edu (Windows)

Using synchronization, you can store your files on austin.utexas.edu, where you can access them at any time from multiple locations.

Note: If you have "Fast User Switching" enabled on your Windows XP computer, you will not be able to enable offline files without first turning off Fast User Switching. In that case, follow the instructions you will see for turning off that feature.

Setting Up Folders for Offline Access

  1. Open Windows Explorer.
  2. From the Tools menu, select Folder Options.
  3. Select the Offline Files tab, then select Enable Offline Files.
  4. Select OK.
  5. Locate and select the folder or file on the network drive that needs to be available offline. Right-click on file or folder, then select Make Available Offline.
  6. Follow the steps in the Offline Files Wizard if it appears.

The folder that was selected is now set up for offline file access. The folder should have a little blue icon attached to it indicating that it is set up for synchronization.

You can force offline synchronization on a per-folder or per-file basis by right-clicking on the desired folder or file and choosing Synchronize.

Accessing Files Offline

  1. Open Windows Explorer.
  2. From the Tools menu, select Folder Options.
  3. Select the Offline Files tab.
  4. Select View Files.
    Note: If you want to create a shortcut on your desktop, select Place a shortcut to Offline Files folder on the desktop.
  5. Select OK.

If you create a shortcut on your desktop, then next time you can access your offline files by double-clicking on the shortcut icon.

Synchronizing the "My Documents" Folder

Important: Before attempting the following steps, make sure that you have a working backup of the contents of your My Documents folder.

  1. Connect to disk.austin.utexas.edu. Instructions for how to do this are available for Macintosh and Windows. Note the drive letter for the mapped share.
  2. In disk.austin.utexas.edu, create a folder named My Documents.
  3. Go to the desktop of the local computer, and right-click on the My Documents icon.
  4. Select Properties.
  5. In the Target field, enter U:\My Documents. Be sure to substitute the appropriate drive name from Step 1 for U.
  6. Select OK. A window will appear asking if you would like to move all of the documents in your old location to the new location you have chosen.

    Important:     Select Yes. Selecting the other option will result in only the location of the My Documents folder being changed. The actual contents of the original My Documents folder will remain where they are. You would then have to move any documents you would like to have synchronized from their old location to the new one.

    Selecting Yes will both change the location of the folder and move the folder contents to the new location. The folder contents will no longer be available from their original location.