XP - Folder Redirection of My Documents problem

[Tennoh]

Hi all,

Wondering if I can get some clues on a current problem. Where I work, we use folder redirection on every workstation of the "My Documents" folder so that they are stored on our network file servers. Works good for the most part.

However there are some laptop users that report a problem that uncommonly happens from time to time. What happens is that these users take their laptops home and discover their My Documents is empty on bootup. Doesn't happen all the time, usually they have file contents as should be that's cached and viewable. However it does happen and it seems to always occur to the same laptop users. Any hints on what could be causing it?

Laptops affected are Thinkpad T4x series and all the users are local Power Users, no admin rights. Offline file synchronization is defined in GPO as type Full at logoff. GPO policies are enforced so users cannot turn off Offline files. No extra file exclusions defined except defaults. These users have been doing Shutdowns at the end of the day and not just going into Standby/Hibernation modes. Win2003 AD domain based.

 

[Rilex]

Have you tried manually sync'ing and then taking the laptop off of the network?

 

[Chunkee]

are they performing a manual sync to test? are they using hibernation mode or standby like many laptop users do? Do they set the folder to work offline? the best test I have found is to disconnect from the network and make sure offline is available...also check the setup on their local pc in the synchronization function.

jC

 

[Tennoh]

GPO policy for Folder Redirection is enforced to Computer so as users cannot turn off Offline Files and that all files are sync'd before logoff. Additionally Sync offline files before suspend is also enabled. Lastly in User config, "Do not automatically make redirected folders available offline" is disabled so as to enforce availability of offline folders as being true/yes. No other GPO option is defined in either locations of Offline Files.

As mentioned, for these particular users, they have been told to specfically not to use suspend/hibernation and to shutdown properly as part of trying to troubleshoot this. Settings have also been confirmed by the helpdesk staff.

They have the correct ownership permissions on the network file server, otherwise their folder redirection wouldn't be working at all which isn't the case. It works fine with the odd behaviour that only sometimes it happens when they are away from the office where the files they should have cached in My Docs simply isn't there...

We could get the users to manually sync, however to do every time just to try and capture the problem would probably not happen as they'd forget every odd day or so. Sync'ing automatically during logoff does happen successfully based on the logs so to do manual sync every time would be repetitious. Capturing fdeploy.log shows no irregular activity that I can see from 1 particular laptop I'm observing, all successes so far. But this log file is odd in that it doesn't seem to append data and just overwrites the log file..

 

[Chunkee]

Originally posted by: Tennoh
GPO policy for Folder Redirection is enforced to Computer so as users cannot turn off Offline Files and that all files are sync'd before logoff. Additionally Sync offline files before suspend is also enabled. Lastly in User config, "Do not automatically make redirected folders available offline" is disabled so as to enforce availability of offline folders as being true/yes. No other GPO option is defined in either locations of Offline Files.

As mentioned, for these particular users, they have been told to specfically not to use suspend/hibernation and to shutdown properly as part of trying to troubleshoot this. Settings have also been confirmed by the helpdesk staff.

They have the correct ownership permissions on the network file server, otherwise their folder redirection wouldn't be working at all which isn't the case. It works fine with the odd behaviour that only sometimes it happens when they are away from the office where the files they should have cached in My Docs simply isn't there...

We could get the users to manually sync, however to do every time just to try and capture the problem would probably not happen as they'd forget every odd day or so. Sync'ing automatically during logoff does happen successfully based on the logs so to do manual sync every time would be repetitious. Capturing fdeploy.log shows no irregular activity that I can see from 1 particular laptop I'm observing, all successes so far. But this log file is odd in that it doesn't seem to append data and just overwrites the log file..

Well, you seem to have it all figured out then. The suggestion for manual sync was to help troubleshooting.

Good luck..

jC

 

[jfunk]

Have you actually witnessed this problem? An awful lot of "my file isn't here!" or "I know I saved changes I made and they're gone!" problems are simply user brain farts.

The fact that the same couple of your users very rarely have one of the documents they happen to be working on randomly be not sync'ed and you have logs that show the sync took place without error really would make me want to see the problem first hand and eliminate user error before spending a terrible amount of time trying to find somebody that has an answer to "why does this thing that I have setup perfectly and logs show works perfectly very rarely simply not happen?" The answer is probably simply that it IS happening and the users are mistaken.

 

[Tennoh]

Yes its always possible of having dumb users reporting erroneously. And its hard to verify as they only claim it happens to them at home or whereever. That's why its difficult as we've never witnessed this or could replicate even borrowing their laptops overnight. At this stage, I've checked over various avenues and I still don't see anything wrong. I will probably have to get Helpdesk to do some Remote Assistance when the event actually occurs to get better data on the situation. Thanks guys.

 

[jfunk]

I would say the main thing to tell the users would be to check for the files after they disconnect from the network, but before they leave. That way they can contact the help desk immediately when it happens and they can look at it right away.

 

[GeekDrew]

I've had similar things happen... a mobile user synchronizes, then shuts down. Offline Files is enabled. They boot up... the files are there. They reboot, the files might be there, they might not be there. Following reboots may or may not cause the files to return.

When I experienced those issues, it was only on a couple of laptops (in a deployment of a couple of hundred), and I didn't have time to troubleshoot. I re-imaged those laptops, and AFAIK, the problem didn't return.