sql server replication: Hi All,

Sorry if this has been asked before...
I've installed MSDE to act as a merge subscriber, started the Server
service to get it installed, then disaled the service. One way
replication appears to work fine - is there any reason I can't leave
the service disabled (may need to use a bidirectional subscription in
the future...)

Duncan,
which service have you disabled? Do you mean the sql server agent? In the
case of pull subscriptions you'll only need this to run if you're using a
scheduled process.
Cheers,
Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP, www.replicationanswers.com
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)

To piggy back on Paul's suggestion, if you need to keep the SQL Agent
running and keep the merge agent from running you can manually disable this
job by right clicking on it and selecting agent properties and then deselect
the enabled check box. The problem is when you run this job again you may
get a lot of data flowing and conflicts. Another problem if you leave it
disabled for more the lesser of history retention period (default 2 days) or
your retention period (default 14 days) you will have to resync.

--
Hilary Cotter
Looking for a SQL Server replication book?
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602.html

Looking for a FAQ on Indexing Services/SQL FTS
http://www.indexserverfaq.com

[quoted text, click to view]