Your offline files disappear on a Windows 2000-based computer

When you log on to your network from a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer, the files in Offline Files disappear.

This problem may occur if you try to connect to your network over a remote access or a virtual private network (VPN) connection, and all the following conditions are true:

• You use Group Policy to redirect folders from your computer to a share on your domain controller.
• You use Group Policy to make the redirected folders Offline Files.
• You synchronized your Offline Files while you were connected to your local area network (LAN).
• You have an offline-enabled connection to the server share where your folders have been redirected, and all Offline Files have been cached for offline use.

This problem occurs because Windows 2000 does not detect a network connection when you connect to your network over a remote access or a VPN connection. Your connection status remains offline. When Group Policy updates, Windows 2000 receives the policy over a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) connection. However, Windows 2000 cannot access the Group Policy template for Offline Files over a Server Message Block (SMB) connection because the session to the domain controller is marked offline. Therefore, Group Policy does not update correctly, and Windows 2000 deletes the cached offline files.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

Windows 2000 Service Pack 3

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.

For additional information about accessing offline files over a remote access or VPN connection, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: