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Q170816: XCLN: No Means of Disabling Default Folders from Offline Use

Article: Q170816
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 4.0,5.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): win95
Last Modified: 03-JAN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Windows 3.x client, versions 4.0, 5.0 
- Microsoft Exchange Windows 95/98 client, versions 4.0, 5.0 
- Microsoft Exchange Windows NT client, versions 4.0, 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

By default, the following four folders are marked as being available both online
and offline. To view this, point to a folder and right-click to display the
selections, click Properties, and then click the Synchronization tab:

  Sent items
  Deleted items
  Inbox
  Outbox

To synchronize an offline folder (OST file), on the Tools menu of the Exchange or
Outlook client, click Synchronize, and then select All Folders. All information
in these default folders is synchronized as well as any additional private or
public folders that have also been marked for offline use. These four default
folders are always marked as being available both online and offline and cannot
be marked for online use only. This is by product design.

MORE INFORMATION
================

To prevent information from all four default folders from being synchronized,
select the one folder you wish to synchronize and on the Tools menu of the
Exchange or Outlook client, click Synchronize, and then click This Folder.

The time it takes to synchronize all folders can be improved by minimizing the
amount of information kept in these default folders.

Some general tips for optimizing synchronization times while using offline
folders:

- Encourage all users to send links to large documents instead of sending the
  whole document as attachments.

- Place restrictions on the sizes of messages that may be sent through the
  Exchange Messaging system (this can be done through the Exchange
  Administrator program). Restrictions can be set on individual mailboxes or
  for all messages flowing through a specific connector.

- Perform a full synchronization and download the offline address book while
  connected to a LAN whenever possible. This is especially important after
  creating a new OST file because of the amount of information that typically
  must be replicated initially. Because synchronization only transfers new
  information, if a majority of the information can be replicated while
  connected over a LAN, remote synchronization time will be greatly shortened.

- Consider moving large forms from the Organizational Forms Library to a
  Personal Folder (PST) or a public folder. Organizational forms are replicated
  to offline folder files as well and can be large. When you synchronize a
  folder Outlook checks to see if that folder contains items that use an
  Organizational Form. If so, the form is synchronized. There is no user option
  to modify this behavior.

- Keep information in the Sent Items folder to a minimum by regularly archiving
  or deleting information from the Sent Items folder. Microsoft Outlook's
  Autoarchive feature can make this process easy. If necessary, disable the
  option: on the Tools menu, click Options, and then on the Send tab, in the
  Sent Items Folder, select the "Save A Copy Of The Item" option.

- Keep information in the Deleted Items folder to a minimum by: on the Tools
  menu, click Option, and then on the General tab, select the "Empty the
  deleted items folder upon exiting" option.

- Use a server-based Inbox Assistant rule to automatically move any large
  messages or messages with attachments to a private folder not marked for
  synchronization. A reply template can simultaneously be sent stating "a large
  message has been moved to the Attachment folder" so that it is apparent to
  the user that a large message was moved with a rule.

See the following Knowledge Base articles for additional information about OST
files and synchronization:

  Q162544 XCLN: Troubleshooting Remote Function of Exchange and Schedule+

  Q163589 XCLN: Restoring from an OST after Deleting the Mailbox

  Q161889 XCLN: OST and PST Quick Reference

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : win95 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbExchange400 kbExchangeClientSearch kbZNotKeyword kbZNotKeyword2 kbZNotKeyword3 kbExchange400NT kbExchange500NT kbExchange400Win95 kbExchange500Win95
Version           : :4.0,5.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

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