WinXP folder redirection - Offline files required?

[Tangent]

The situation: At my work our My Documents folders are all automatically redirected to user folder on servers, which is great. The bad, is that one of the LAN admins I work with is insisting that for folder redirection to work, the Offline Files feature must be activated. This causes all sorts of problems with folders and programs that run from the network becoming unavailable if there's a hicup in communication with the server. Getting the XP workstations to stop treating the files as offline is a PITA and drains alot of my time and the user's time.

Before this LAN admin told me to not disable it, I would disable the offline files feature on the workstation and not have to worry about this happening again. We have no reason to use offline files, (even per the admin) other than he insists that redirection won't work without it. The workstations where I'd already disabled offline files not only still redirect the My Documents folder just fine, but they are immune from the irritatingly frequent habit of XP to start treating files as offline.

The request: Does anybody know of an official Microsoft document where it explicitly states that Offline Files does not have to be active for folder redirection to work? Apparently the machines I've done this on that still work perfectly are not enough proof, and I can't find any official source that he might beleive.

 

[Demon10000]

I've never heard that you need Offline Files to make folder redirection work. Here is a link to a microsoft document describing Folder Redirection. Offline files are no where to be found in the article.

Check out this document too. In particular,

Folder Redirection and Offline Files

The Offline Files technology applies to any mounted or mapped drive that contains documents or data that a user might want to use offline. Offline Files does not depend on Folder Redirection. It is set up and configured on shared network servers separately from the Folder Redirection snap-in. Offline Files enables the user to do useful work even when the user is not connected to the network, for example, on a portable computer or in the event of router failure.

 

[Tangent]

You've never heard it because you don't. The problem is that the guy I'm working with is convinced that you do for some unknown reason and won't take my practical examples as proof. That document should help, thanks!

 

[DeaconFrost]

I haven't been in my current position very long, but that's how my users are set up. The problem I've seen, to the best of my limited knowledge on the subject, is that without Offline Folders enabled, it doesn't seem like my users can get to their documents, without their VPN enabled. So, if my CEO is sitting on a plan, she can't access her documents.

I'm planning on doing away with this configuration, once I figure out and test the proper steps to undo the redirection.