I have worked w/ replication on many different sites, so I know how to
setup merge and contiuous with no problems. Now, we need to setup a
laptop that has a subset of the data. This laptop currently has nothing
on it, so I would load the program and MSDE.

But, what data should I first get over to that machine, and how should
the tables be created? I really want the replication to create the
tables EXACTLY as they are on the server. But, then all of the IDENTITY
columns have to be changed on the laptop so they don't use the same
numbers as the server.

Can anyone give me some good advice on this as to how/what process is
the best for getting a subset of data at the start (I have the on-demand
merge working, I am just having problems with the initial install).

Thanks.

Darin

Darin,
for the identity management part you can use automatic range management on
the article properties and this is all taken care of. If you don't do this,
you can reseed the identity ranges on the subscriber manually. For the
subset part you could use filters.
Cheers,
Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP, www.replicationanswers.com
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)