Difference between Copy and Publish
Copy or Publish - the Differences
What's the difference between Copying and HTTP Publishing?
Copying:
Use Windows Explorer or an FTP client to copy files from one location to another. All meta data folders (_vti*) and files will also be copied - these should never be copied and will corrupt any FrontPage extensions on the target system.
Using FTP may change line endings in ASCII files to whatever the target system expects. Windows uses CRLF and Unix uses LF. Note that the files in _vti* folders are all ASCII files, but some extensions for these files may be for binaries, such as .jpg, .gif, etc.
FTP Publish:
As above, but in addition Meta data on the source website (if available) will be updated to record which files were copied to where. FTP Publish does not copy meta data folders or files ( _vti* ) to the target system, or update any meta files on the target system.
HTTP Publish:
Copies files to the target website. In addition, code in some pages (those that use webbots - forms, search, etc) will be changed, updated or expanded to suit the target system. Meta data on both source and target will be updated. _vti* folders and files are not copied - they are created or updated on the target system (which is one reason why HTTP publishing is slower than FTP).