Can I open briefcase without checking for status?

[kopja]

Hello
I have a large briefcase, about 10 GB with plenty of files from my PC and work network. The briefcase resides in a removable drive. It works fine at work while connected to the network, but when I go home, and signed in to VPN, it takes half-an hour to open as windows automatically tries to check status, and obviously VPN is slow.

Is there a way to open briefcase in 'offline', meaning forcing it NOT to check status upon open? Note the the problem is not the syncing (as I can sync files manually as I need to), but just the initial open action of the briefcase.

It used to be much better on Windows XP (although the briefcase was smaller at the time).
Laptop with Window 7 pro, attached to domain.

Thanks.

 

[BadBigBen]

Briefcase users who have migrated to Windows 7 will have discovered this handy utility is slow at best or doesn't work at all. Synctoy is a free tool from Microsoft to synchronize your files, locally, or across a network. If you use a laptop at work and a desktop PC at home you can sync files when you connect to the LAN.

source: Using Synctoy with Windows 7 and XP

with that in mind, I'll suggest that you just move on and use SynToy instead...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[stduc]

SyncToy is great - with one issue in my book - it does not detect if both copies of a file have been updated. So if you update a file at work at 10am and update the same file at home at 7pm and then sync whatever you did at the office is lost. So if you forget to sync and update both files you can lose work. The briefcase ill detect a clash - but on 7 only works acceptably for a small number of files.

 

[kopja]

Thank you for the replies.
Yes, I have been looking at Synctoy, but it is a different concept, and more importantly it is a "directory sync" rather than a file sync.
Yes I know about filters but it is really quite different and not straightfw.
If I want only, say 5 XL files out of a large directory in the network, I just drag them on the briefcase. In synctoy got to do the whole folder, then add specifically those filenames, and exclude subdirs, etc. This gets tiring really fast.

Does anyone know the answer to my question, if there is a way to stop briefcase from checking status while opening. (Other than the opening issue while on VPN, briefcase runs OK for me). Maybe by enabling windows firewall or something like that to 'block' briefcase?

 

[linney]

Can you get any clues from this XP article?

How To Use the Briefcase Feature in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307885&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

 

[kopja]

No, that article does not say how to stop it from checking status at first open.