Hi, Some of my Win7 clients randomly fail to display newly created files on network paths. If the client has been working with the folder in explorer and creates a file in the folder in another application, explorer doesn't always show the new file. Browsing to the parent folder shows the folder in question with a recent modified time, but no files in the folder were modified that recently. Closing explorer and reopening the path doesn't change the behavior, neither does resorting or f5/refresh. If another client browses the folder, they will see the file. If this new client creates a copy of the 'missing' file and explorer is open on the problem client, both files are displayed instantly with no user interaction. This problem has occurred on multiple win7 clients. The server is 2008 Standard SP2. Any ideas?

Hi, Thanks for posting in Microsoft TechNet Forum. What is the application which you use to create new files? How about other applications? Have you enabled offline files on network share? Currently please try the following steps to check the result: 1. Disable firewall and anti-virus software to check the result. 2. Try to re-create the missing file with same name in that folder. 3. Try another network path to see how it works. Hope it helps. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

The application varies. It was an in house app that wrote an excel file, which wasn't visible to the client where it was created, but was visible to a new client. Offline files are not enabled for the share. 1. The problem is very random and I can't repro on demand. I can't disable the firewall and AV for weeks on end. 2. I'll try that (from within the application). I have a feeling if I try it from within explorer via context menu, that'll trigger the directory listing update and I'll see both files. 3. I'll try at the parent folder, then another share. Not knowing the details of SMB 2.0, it seems like the client or explorer misses the change/updated directory listing message from the server or doesn't process it, and thinks it's completely current. It picks up a subsequent change message and reprocesses the listing, showing both files.

Really, looking at the SMB 2.0 specification http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc212614.aspx, it appears that the client either doesn't get a CHANGE_NOTIFY Response or doesn't process it properly and a refresh in explorer doesn't cause a QUERY_DIRECTORY Request to be issued and it just pulls info from its out of date cache.