Sometimes when syncing Offline Files in XP, things go haywire. No surprises. Stuff just starts to disappear and network drives contain only a partial listing of files, if any at all. You may experience other oddities, too. Yet another Microsoftism. Is that a word? It should be.

To recreate the cache and rebuild the database, add this registry key:

[code]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache
Key Name: FormatDatabase
Key Type: DWORD
Key Value: 1
[/code]

Reboot. The key will remove itself automatically after performing the operations.

Or from My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > Offline Files tab, hold down CTRL+SHIFT and click the Delete Files button. Yes, then reboot.

I’d like to thank Microsoft for this feature.