Thanks for the response, I look forward to solving this. You reflected my
question accurately. I found this occurred in VS 2005 and VS2008. Most work
will now be in VS2008, so I'll focus on vs 2008 for this question.

Your method of selecting the properties of the source panel (or any item
within it) and selecting 'copy web site' worked fine. I had previously been
selecting all the files and folders at the root of the source website, then
deselecting app_data (which I didn't want to copy) and finally clicking the
right arrow.

Or, in my efforts to make this work, I would delete all files (except
App_data folder and files) from the remote site, and then select all files
and folders (except App_data) on the source web site, then click the right
pointing arrow button. This would copy files at the root, and the folders,
but not the content files in the folders at the root.

Is it possible there is a fourth exception: if the target directory has a
deleted file, the source file will not overwrite it? This would not be
useful rule, I realize, but my tests suggest this.

For example: I created a new subfolder, called test in a folder at the
website root called techsupport. I created a file, default.asp in the test
folder. I clicked techsupport on the source, and the right arrow button,
resulting in the normal copy. I confirmed that default existed in the remote
subfolder. Then I deleted default.aspx from the subfolder on the remote
site.

Now I select the source folder (techsupport), the right arrow button, and I
expect this to copy default.aspx to the remote. I check, and it has not!

It isn't copying a file in a subfolder from the source, to a remote
subfolder with a deleted file of the same name.

Would be able to see if you can reproduce this? And any ideas on performing
this selective copy?