Moving folders and storing hard drivers.

[Derek]

I need to move folders from one external hard drive to another, is it best to "click and drag" or "copy and paste"?
Also when a hard drive is full can you just unplug it and put in on a shelf until you might need it or do you have to keep it plugged in?

 

[honestone]

I suspect it makes no difference how you copy the information from one drive to another. I would just click and drag whatever files/folders you want a copy of. I have done that numerous times, without any issues.

As for what to do when your hard drive is full, it would be OK to just unplug it and store it. But, it might be a good idea to then take out of storage every so often and connect it, to confirm that it is still functioning. I would do it once a month.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I think from Mac OS X 10.7 onwards you can move a file/folder to an external drive by selecting the file/folder, pressing Command C to copy, then go to the external drive & press Opt Command V. This will move the file/folder to the new location on the external drive.

If you click drag or copy paste to an external drive you are creating a copy, so it depends on what you want to do.

You can unplug the ext drive & store it as long as you want … you don't need to have it connected all the time. Just make sure you eject the drive properly before unplugging it.

 

[BudVitoff]

"If you click drag or copy paste you are creating a copy, so it depends on what you want to do."

I'll go along with copy-paste creating a copy, but I just confirmed that click-drag on the same drive is a move, not a copy. (On the Mac. If I'm not mistaken, it's a copy under Windows.) I'm reasonably sure that a click-drag to a different drive is never a move -- always a copy. Since I just hooked up an external drive, I'll check it out.

(time passes)

I just click-dragged a file from my desktop to a USB-attached external drive. It copied, not moved, as I expected.

(more time passes)

I just checked on the Windows side of my iMac. Same story.

And just to cover obvious definitions, just in case:
"Copy" = copy and paste
"Move" = cut and paste

 

[Derek]

Thanks everyone for replying and the information.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Did you test out 'copy', then go the the external hard drive & press Opt Command V to see if it moved the file/s/folder/s rather than created copies?

 

[BudVitoff]

Yes. When copying a file from my hard drive to the external drive, the Opt-Command-V made it a move, not a copy. For the record, when I followed with a command-Z, it put everything back.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Here are the general keyboard shortcuts for working in Finder:

• Command key while dragging - Move the dragged item to another volume or location. The pointer changes while you drag the item.

• Option key while dragging - Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.

• Command-Option while dragging - Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.

If you are using OS X Mavericks there are a host of extra keyboard shortcuts for moving/copying:

OS X Mavericks: Move and copy items between windows

 

[Derek]

Thanks Spawn_Dooley, that works great, so easy. Thanks again

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Glad it's sorted Derek