How do I copy files from external HD to my MBP?

Connect the external drive to your computer. Open a Finder window on the external drive so you can locate the files you want to copy. Select those files. Then open a Finder window on the computer's drive. Select the location to where you want the files copied. Return to your selection and drag the entire selection to the drive on the computer.

Alternatively, decide where you want the files copied on your computer. Open a Finder window on the external drive. Locate the files you want copied; select the files and press Command-C. Move the cursor to the place on the computer where you want the files copied and click into that space. Press Command-V to paste your files in the desired location.

Jamo44or44 wrote:

Yo, Kappy --

Thanks, but... I have one more (dumb?) question: Do I need to erase/delete/eradicate the (same) files on the computer before I copy them from the hard drive back to the computer?

Thank you again,

Jim

What's the intent. If you're just looking to copy over data and can sort it out later, you could just create a directory for that information and then just copy everything to that directory. But if you copied over things where there are duplicate names, it's typically going to ask if you want to overwrite the existing files with the same names.

If you create a direct (i.e. "backup") and then drag the directory/contents to that directory, it's not going to be populated and should be fine just copying over the entire contents to an empty directory. However, it's possible to copy over to an existing directory and then it will ask if you want to replace anything where there's a file/directory with the exact same name.

No. You will get a dialog asking if you want to skip the copy, stop the copy, or replace the file. Just choose replace.