Easily Enable Off-line File Access

If you use Windows file sharing to access folders on your desktop PC from your laptop, if can be quite annoying that the folders are only accessible when you are connected to your home network. If you need to access the folders while you are away from your home network you will find that you are presented with an error message saying that the remote computer cannot be found. Fortunately Windows has a little-know built in feature to allow you to create temporary copies of shared folders on your local hard drive which are transparently synchronized with your main PC when you reconnected to your home network. To enable this feature:
1. Open My Computer (Computer in Windows Vista) and click Tools > Folder Options.
2. Click on the tab Offline Files, and then tick the option Enable Offline Files.
3. Select Synchronize all offline files before logging off and then click OK.
4. Next, navigate to the shared folder you want to make available offline.
5. Click File > Make Available Offline.

You will now find that your shared folder is still available on your laptop when you are not connected to your home network, and that any changes you make to the files are synchronized when you next reconnect.