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On Vista systems, I've been using these instructions to relocate the "Offline Files Cache" from its default location of c:\csc. Works great.

However, these instructions do not work on Windows 7. There is small discussion about the issue going on on TechNet but nobody yet has a solution.

The problem is that the Migration Wizard has changed in Windows 7 and no longer provides a mechanism for doing this.

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3 Answers 3

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I've found the following to work well. I would advise to create a restore point prior to doing the following.

  1. Create a folder for your offline file cache. Something like D:\Offline.
  2. From an elevated command prompt type the following: Takeown /r /f C:\Windows\CSC.
  3. Open the Sync Center and go to Manage Offline Files.
  4. Click Disable Offline Files and restart the machine.
  5. From an elevated command prompt issue the following commands:

    rd /s C:\Windows\CSC
    mklink /J C:\Windows\CSC "D:\Offline"
    

    (or whatever your folder name is, but be sure to use the quotes if you have space(s) in the name).

  6. Reopen the Manage Offline Files window and Enable Offline Files.

  7. Restart the machine.

All files/folders that are made available offline should now be redirected to whichever folder you specified.

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  • 1
    Smart use of the new Directory Junction(AKA Symbolic link) feature available in Vista an up. +1
    – Jeff F.
    Mar 27, 2012 at 18:41
  • 3
    Works in Windows 8 too Jan 12, 2013 at 13:32
  • Another option that I found that works excellent is you can actually mount an entire Partition to the C:\Windows\CSC directory. Computer Management -> Disk Management right click on the Partition you want to mount and click on Change drive letter and paths remove any Drive letters then Add -> Mount in the following empty NTFS folder. Then just enter C:\Windows\CSC then the entire Partition will be your offline files cache! Jul 13, 2015 at 13:40
  • Unfortunately neither this answer or this worked in my case. After the last restart my Offline Files system gets crippled and continuously asks me to restart to get it enabled. Had to delete the CSC folder and re-enable the Offlien Files to let it create its own CSC folder with the permissions it needs to get it back to its original state.
    – Mehrad
    Jan 13, 2016 at 23:38
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This is from another Technet Social post:

When you make a network folder available offline, copies of all the files in that folder will be stored on your computer's hard disk.

Windows 7 also, includes an expanded ability to do fast remote queries of file shares, including on Windows Vista®, Windows Server® 2008, Windows® XP with Windows Search 4.0 installed, and earlier versions.

Client Side Caching as well as the Offline File service have some fundamental differences in Windows 7, but, the dynamics of this process seem to be the same. I'm not sure what instructions you used to move the cache file from Vista but depending on the process, you may be able to use a similar function when utilizing offline folders in Windows 7.

Could you check if this knowledge base article is different from what you used before?

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  • And it only works in professional and ultimate!
    – Ivo Flipse
    Aug 8, 2009 at 8:47
  • I don't think there's a solution yet, if it's not working as intended
    – Ivo Flipse
    Aug 8, 2009 at 8:48
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It's even more simple than that in Windows 7

Just open Sync center >> on left chose " Manage offline files

In new window Offline files on first tab just use option View your files

It will open a new window with offline files content.

From there you can just do a copy-paste to any folder on desktop or physical drivers.

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  • The OP was questioning how to move the cache location of Offline files, not how to move the files contained within it.
    – HaydnWVN
    Feb 28, 2013 at 11:05

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