windows 8.1 - Remove Sync Center icon

I accidentally marked a shared folder as "Available Offline" in Windows Explorer on Windows 8.1 computer. This seems to have "woken up" the Sync Center and caused the Sync Center icon to be displayed in the system notification area. Even though I've undid that by marking the folder as not available offline, and furthermore have reset CSC and disabled Offline Files, the Sync Center icon still appears in the overflow section of the system notification area.

How do I remove the Sync Center icon and preferably disable the process that is displaying it?

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Debugging info: The registry shows that stuff is enabled, even though the Sync Center and Offline Files dialog don't indicate that anything is active.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr\HandlerInstances\{750FDF10-2A26-11D1-A3EA-080036587F03}
    SyncTime    REG_BINARY    F6DDC46CBB76CF01
    Connected    REG_DWORD    0x1
    Enabled    REG_DWORD    0x0
    Active    REG_DWORD    0x1
    NotifiedOnFirstActivation    REG_DWORD    0x0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr\HandlerInstances\{750FDF10-2A26-11D1-A3EA-080036587F03}\SyncItems

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr\HandlerInstances\{750FDF10-2A26-11D1-A3EA-080036587F03}\SyncItems\{CBA95344-4284-48CB-8083-3BDE1FDB29A7}
    SyncTime    REG_BINARY    F6DDC46CBB76CF01
    Connected    REG_DWORD    0x1
    Enabled    REG_DWORD    0x1

Answer

By default, the Sync Center won't start automatically unless you first establish a sync partnership (e.g. you make some network file or folder available offline). The icon will still be available in the notification area even after reverting back the changes.

Disabling the Offline Files features should prevent the Sync Center from running at log on. In case it doesn't, follow the steps below in their exact order.

Reset the sync cache and database

1. 
   

   Make sure the Offline Files features is enabled and active.

   
   


2. 
   

   Open an elevated command prompt.

   
   


3. 
   

   Type or paste the following command, and press Enter:

   
   

   reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC\Parameters" /v FormatDatabase /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
   



4. 
   

   Restart Windows.

   
   

Disable driver and service

1. 
   

   Open an elevated command prompt.

   
   


2. 
   

   Run the following command:

   
   

   for %G in ("CSC","CscService") do sc config "%~G" start= disabled
   



3. 
   

   Restart Windows to apply the changes.

   
   

Clear the Client-Side Cache (CSC)

At this point the offline cache should be empty. By running the commands below in an elevated command prompt you can ensure there are no leftovers:

takeown /f "%windir%\CSC" /a /r
icacls "%windir%\CSC" /grant:r *S-1-5-32-544:F /t /c /q
icacls "%windir%\CSC" /grant:r *S-1-5-18:F /t /c /q
for /d %G in ("%windir%\CSC\v2.0.6\namespace\*") do rd /s /q "%~G"

Note The Offline Files driver and service must be stopped for the commands to work.

Disable scheduled tasks

Open an elevated command prompt, and run the following commands:

schtasks /change /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Offline Files\Background Synchronization" /disable
schtasks /change /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Offline Files\Logon Synchronization" /disable

Prevent the Sync Center from starting at log on

1. 
   

   Open a command prompt.

   
   


2. 
   

   Type or paste the following commands, pressing Enter each time:

   
   

   reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr" /v "StartAtLogin" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
   reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr\HandlerInstances\{750FDF10-2A26-11D1-A3EA-080036587F03}" /v "Active" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
   reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr" /f
   reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache" /f
   reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr\HandlerInstances\{750FDF10-2A26-11D1-A3EA-080036587F03}\SyncItems" /f
   



3. 
   

   Log off and log back on.

   
   

Note The changes won't stick if at least one sync partnership is set up and the Offline Files service is running.

References