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Windows Synchronization Manager

Windows Synchronization Manager is a utility available with Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions. If Microsoft SQL Server is running on the same computer as Synchronization Manager, you can do the following:

  • Synchronize a subscription.

  • Reinitialize a subscription.

  • Remove a subscription.

It is particularly useful for synchronizing subscriptions on SQL Server Express, because this version of SQL Server does not include SQL Server Agent, which, by default, runs the replication agents on other versions of SQL Server.

For example, Adventure Works Cycles uses merge replication (for more information about Adventure Works Cycles, see AdventureWorks2008R2 Sample Databases). Remote sales representatives, who are running SQL Server Express on their laptops, can view and update customer and orders information for their specific territories. In the New Subscription Wizard, the replication administrator specified that the Merge Agent updates the subscription only on demand. When sales representatives are working offline, they can view their data and update the customer and order information. When they reconnect to the Publisher, they can open Windows Synchronization Manager and click the Synchronize button to synchronize their updates with updates made at the Publisher and at other Subscribers.

Note

Windows Synchronization Manager is also a central location for synchronizing other applications, including e-mail and offline Web pages. You can use Windows Synchronization Manager to schedule synchronizations or instruct Windows to synchronize selected items automatically when you log on or log off a computer, or when you undock a portable computer. For more information, see the Windows documentation.

To use Windows Synchronization Manager