hi, i am new to my place of work and we are using windows xp.  on some
of my files there is something that looks like a recycle arrow on my
files and directories.  this is only on some of them.  my it guy is
home now and wont be back until tuesday, so im hoping someone knows
this answer.  what do the arrows signify?

you can see a picture of the arrows in the icons at: 
http://snipurl.com/lk45  (the quality is not the best...  hope you can
help anyhow!)

thanks!

There's nothing to worry about. This is the offline files icon. I've
gathered some information for you.

Jefferson Lab Computing: Windows Offline Files Support
http://cc.jlab.org/docs/services/windows/offline.html

Jonathan Hardwick: Folder redirection and offline files
http://blogs.msdn.com/jonathanh/archive/2004/05/02/124900.aspx

Winbook Tech: Configuring Offline Files in Windows XP Professional 
http://www.winbookcorp.com/_technote/WBTA20000869.htm

I hope this helps! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "offline files icon"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22offline+files+icon%22

Best regards,
pinkfreud

thanks so much!  it was a big help!

Thank you for the five stars and the nice tip!

~pinkfreud