I thought root could everything

[dbonsall]

I am trying to copy files from one hard drive to another. When I attempt to copy these files logged in as myself, I get an error stating that not all files could be read. So, to circumvent this problem, I logged into the Finder as root, and tried the copy as well. This time, I receive an error stating that "Some items have special permissions and could not be copied". If it is root, why does the permissions even matter. What can I do to copy these files?

I am running 10.3.6.

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

What files are they, and what are the exact permissions (you can see the exact permissions through the Terminal)?

 

[andychrist]

Dennis, have you considered using Carbon Copy Cloner?

 

[nixgeek]

I could be that those file are in use by something that is not immediately evident to the user. I've had similar things happen under Linux.