Overwriting Directories in Finder

[mehtadone]

Hi guys,

I am new to a mac and am so glad I made the port!! I did a search but couldnt seem to find the answer to this question.

Say I have two directories, one on my usb drive and one on the mac, both called "pics". Now on my USB drive a add and remove items to the "pics" folder. If I drag and drop the usb "pics" on my mac, it asks me if i would like to replace the folder. I click yes.

On windows, the contents of the two directories would be merged. but on the the mac it seems to delete the mac pics folder totally and replaces it with the usb version.

Is there a way of replicating the merge of the two folder without getting a syncing program. I just think the syncing program like chronosync maybe a overkill for my needs.

Thanks!

 

[symphonix]

You could go into the folder itself, and then select all items (Cmd-A) and drag the items into the destination folder where you want to copy them. It will then ask you, for the first item it finds already exists, whether you want to replace or leave the original. There is a little checkbox that reads "apply to all" - check that and it should merge the items into the folder.

An even easier way is to setup an AppleScript using Folder Actions, which automatically trigger when an item is added to a folder.

And a syncing program may seem like overkill, but once its setup you wouldn't need to manually copy items ever again, which makes it fairly worthwhile.