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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Why when I click and drag files in Finder they are copied instead, why?

Why when I click and drag files in Finder they are copied instead, why?
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Sosa
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Dec 1, 2003, 02:30 PM
 
I don't think this used to happen before, something new in Panther? I just want to change the location of folders for example, and they are copied automatically. When these folder are large, like 2 gigs, it is a pain to have to wait and then delete the copy afterwards.

Solutions?
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Previous Macs: Apple IIc+, iMac 350 G3, iBook 700 G3, G4 Powerbooks 12" 1ghz & 15" 1.67ghz
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Moose
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Dec 1, 2003, 02:32 PM
 
Originally posted by Sosa:
I don't think this used to happen before, something new in Panther? I just want to change the location of folders for example, and they are copied automatically. When these folder are large, like 2 gigs, it is a pain to have to wait and then delete the copy afterwards.

Solutions?
More information needed:

1) Same volume?
2) To/from a FileVault-enabled home directory?
     
Sosa  (op)
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Dec 1, 2003, 02:43 PM
 
Well today I tried moving my games folder from the shared folder to my applications. Rather than open another finder window, I usually drag to the desktop, go to finder window were I want the new location, drag to new finder window.

When draggin stuff to the desktop though it is now making copies.

I just now tried dragging the folder from my desktop to the Application folder in Finder and again another 2 gig copy!

Yes I do have filevault on.
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010111
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Dec 1, 2003, 03:10 PM
 
Originally posted by Sosa:
Well today I tried moving my games folder from the shared folder to my applications. Rather than open another finder window, I usually drag to the desktop, go to finder window were I want the new location, drag to new finder window.

When draggin stuff to the desktop though it is now making copies.

I just now tried dragging the folder from my desktop to the Application folder in Finder and again another 2 gig copy!

Yes I do have filevault on.
probably permissions related. can you rename or rearrange items in the dupli-copying folder? try running repair permissions and check your permissions on the affected folders vs. another install (another machine) if possible.
010111
     
Moose
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Dec 1, 2003, 03:39 PM
 
Originally posted by 010111:
probably permissions related. can you rename or rearrange items in the dupli-copying folder? try running repair permissions and check your permissions on the affected folders vs. another install (another machine) if possible.
Heh. No. This is not permissions-related. (I swear to God "repair permissions!!!" has become the new "rebuild the desktop!!!")

It's because he has FileVault on. With FileVault, your home directory is, strictly speaking, a different volume.

Dragging files from one volume to another copies them.

Tripped me up the first time it happened to me until I thought about it awhile.
     
Sosa  (op)
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Dec 1, 2003, 08:12 PM
 
Well thanks for the replies. I would verify this but turning off firevault takes a while, and so does turning it on later.

I don't really understand why it is necessary to make copies when moving things from your home folder somewhere else, but at least I know the cause.
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wataru
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Dec 1, 2003, 08:27 PM
 
Originally posted by Sosa:
I don't really understand why it is necessary to make copies when moving things from your home folder somewhere else, but at least I know the cause.
Because with FileVault your home folder is treated as a separate drive. The default behavior is (obviously) to copy, not move, to different drives.
     
chabig
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Dec 1, 2003, 08:28 PM
 
Because when you make a regular copy, the computer doesn't actually move the data. It just updates the address of the data so it looks like it's at a different location.

But when you move data from one hard drive to another, the data itself must be copied. This applies to any mounted volume, not just hard drives. When you copy data to or from your FileVault protected home directory (which is really just an encrypted volume) the data must actually be copied and encrypted.

Chris
     
CharlesS
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Dec 1, 2003, 10:42 PM
 
If you hold down the Command key, you can cause the file to be moved instead of copied (although, with a FileVault-enabled home folder, you'll still have to wait for the file to be encrypted).

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Chris Grande
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Dec 2, 2003, 12:54 AM
 
Also if your on the same Volume and want to copy something instead of move it, hold the option key while you are dragging. This along with 'hold the command key' to move across volumes shows a visual change in the cursor. A green circle with a '+' sign means copy and just a normal cursor means move. Oh...and while we're at it command-option makes an alias.
     
   
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