Hey everyone! I'm currently testing Windows 11 24H2 in a VMware environment, and I've run into a BSOD that says "PAGE FAULT IN NONPAGED AREA". This seems to happen randomly after logging in with an Active Directory user account, and the memory dump points to CSC.sys as a possible culprit. I got some feedback on Reddit suggesting that 'Offline files' might be the issue. Currently, we redirect user profiles' desktops and documents (about 100 users) to a file server. If I disable offline files, will this slow down performance since users will have to access the server every time they need to read or write files? Thanks for your help!
3 Answers
I’ve had my share of headaches with offline files. They can fail unexpectedly, and files saved to the server are sometimes just stored in a hidden local folder, leading to possible data loss if something goes wrong. If you're concerned about performance, you might want to rethink the need for offline files altogether.
Thanks for the insights! If we want to disable offline files, can we just turn them off directly, or do we need to sync first? If syncing is needed, how can we make sure that every user's files are already synchronized?
It sounds like you're a bit confused about how offline files work. They primarily kick in when there's no server connection; otherwise, they access the server directly. So, disabling them shouldn't significantly affect performance. However, many folks have moved away from using offline files since they often lead to more problems than they solve.
That's mostly right! Offline files do have smart features—like assessing connection performance. If everything's running smoothly, it will go straight to the server. For your setup, running a virtual machine in the same data center as the file server, offline files likely won’t add any value. Your issues might be tied to other security features like vTPM or Credential Guard.
When you disable offline files, they won’t sync anymore, which is something to keep in mind. Just be wary of potential file conflicts if some files weren't synced before disabling the feature.