We have a windows 2003 Small Business Server acting as our file server and exchange server, and windows XP SP2 clients. I have enabled 'offline files' on my laptop client, and marked just a very small number of files as being available offline as a test.
Now, quite often (several times a day, maybe even once an hour or more), I get a baloon pop-up in the tray saying "Offline Files - Working Offline. You are no longer connected to <server name> ..." And at this point, I can no longer access (view) files on the network. I see some but not all shared folders on the network (this is not expected - I should only see folders that contain files that have been marked for offline use, I believe), but they contain no files other than the few test files that are marked for offline use (expected). I can continue to browse the internet, so general network access is available, and I can 'ping' the server. I can also continue to receive email, which is served from the same server.
When I double-click the associated Offline Files icon in the tray, I get a dialog that shows 'Offline Files Status. You are working offline ... and shows the server below with a status of 'offline', 'unavailable for reconnect'. As soon as I click 'OK', a synchronization occurs (even though it just said the server was unavailable), and the dialog changes to 'Synchronizing...', 'No offline edits found synchronization succeeded' and now, I can access network resources again. So now I have full access to network files again, until the next time I see the popup saying, 'Offline Files - Working Offline', and then the above cycle continues.
This is very repeatable. 99% of the time, there are no files to synchronise (since I only set one or two files for synch, as a test) but if I do change these files, there is no difference in the behavior other than the file does synchronise.
This problem occurs while in the office (docked, wired to network) and while at home (wireless, and using VPN to get to our network). It does not happen as often while in the office, I'd say - but does happen. Typically, I turn off the wireless card (this is a thinkpad with a hard switch for this) while in the office to prevent unintended wireless connections.
This is a pretty new setup - all less than one year old.
Based on other tips, I have tried turning off power management on the local wireless card - no difference.
