'don't replace' vs 'keep both files'

I have over a thousand pictures i am trying to back up to an external drive. I already backed up pictures from day 1, about 400 or so. I could really use that option right now. I am literally cross referenceing file names and dates with my own eye. Bad move Apple, hope this gets fixed soon.

KoenAtWork: OK, If I do it as a folder operation, i.e., I drop my documents folder from my imac onto my Western Digital external drive (which has a copy of my documents folder in the root dir), and I've got new files in the imac documents folder, then it does not create duplicates. It just copies in the new files and leaves the old ones alone. If I go in and select all the individual files in documents and drop them onto the files on the external drive in the documents folder then it does create numbered duplicates. Somewhat bizarre but it looks like if you do it as a folder operation, i.e., drop folders onto folders, it is a way around the duplicates problem.

My Fix: Use this key functionality that is MISSING from OSX Lion in Paralells with Windows 7. Hey, it just works. It's so unfortunate though, for apple. Really going down hill with Lion

This, plus my Wifi keeps dropping despite all the "fixes". I do miss Snow Leopard but I'm too lazy to revert right now. But, the crappy Lion release is definitely keeping me on my older Macs (rather than upgrading hardware) till the next OS. Lion truly is Apple's Vista. A huge mistake.

At least with windows we never had KEY basic functions stripped from the OS....

@ JMK999: Thanks! That may be a goot hint... but I will have to look into that, as it is never a complete folder I need to 'sync', and it's not always the newest version of a file I want to keep in the final selection folder... which complicates things... On top of that most folders contain subfolders etc... So it may be worth exploring, but it's not going to solve the disapearance of "don't replace". It was so easy. It feels like driving a car where they left out the 'reverse' gear :-)

So what everyone is saying is that there seems to be no going back, no way of configuring the finder so that the old "Don't Replace" option is available once more?! That is a great pity. I too have written a complaint through the feedback facility. I am beginning to feel like the Windows users did when Vista came out: Has no improved features - XP was better.

What a let-down by Apple this Lion thing is. If it weren't such a bother, I would go back to Snow Leopard myself. If anyone does have an answer that actually works, and not some sort of sync option, which is useless to me, I should be grateful to know it.

I believe I have found a way around the problem. Instead of replacing the files themselves, put them into a folder of the same name on both drives. Then simply replace the folder with the new files included. The machine will only copy the new files, so you don't have to wait while the entire amount is copied.

+1

Add me to the mix (I've sent an email through the feedback link in this thread) of people who constantly use "Don't Replace."

Please: REPLACE "KEEP BOTH" or "Keep Both!"

Not sure if this was in 10.7.1, but in 10.7.2, when presented with the dialog box, hold the 'option' key and "Keep Both Files" will change to "Skip"

Credit for this find goes to: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3247340?answerId=16496055022#16496055022

It's true - enough complaints must have been received that Apple has (albeit silently) offered us the old "Don't Replace" functionality back as "Skip" with 10.7.2.

Kudos and thanks to everybody who griped about it here & directly to Apple. Apple, learn your lesson about taking away power in the name of "simplicity"!

Now if they can only fix the Finder bugs, network mount bugs, Safari bugs and countless other issues Apple has introduced with Mac OS Vista (oops... I mean Lion) then I'd possibly install it on more than just my laptop. 😁

I had the same problem, i.e.: copying vast number of files (wallpapers and family photos, mostly) and I used the SL Don't replace option all the time. Now, with Lion, there was not an obvious solution. HOWEVER, my ever trust in Apple paid off and I found the solution. When you get the message box saying you have duplicate files, SIMPLY PRESS THE OPTION KEY and the "Keep Both FIles" button turns into a "Skip" button, which does the same as "Don't Replace" option we've all been missing!

For the record, I would prefer that Apple make the "Keep Both Files" the hidden option, and made the "Skip" option the default button (as well as keep it the same name).

Again, to get the "Don't Replace" option, simply press the Option key when the dialoge box apears.

@Rakoto: I noticed it a few months ago. This option key functionality was added in a system update to 10.7.2. It was not present in the first release :-). They fixed it in meanwhile :-)

I just discovered this issue as well.

I came back from a 2 week trip and I had thousand of pictures to trandfer back from my Mac book to my home Mac. A lot of the pictures were already there. So I should have had only to transfer a few GB of data. But because of that new "feature", I had to transfer all of the images, tens of GB, not knowing which one I was missing, and it is taking hours, instead of minutes.

This is the most frustrating experience and really a red eye on Apple. No wonder they are having problems.

I submitted a product compliant to

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

just now

@marmotton: Did you notice they fixed the issue with the 10.7.2 update? Try pressing the ALT-key when the dialog box appears and 'skip' is not displayed as a possibility. Since 10.7.2, The 'skip'-functionality is available again this way. I hope this helps.

I'm not sure this thread is relevant to me, but you guys are mentioning the copying system Apple uses.

I copy a folder from my Mac, click within the folder on my USB backup drive, then PASTE items. I know there are fodlers within the source location and destination location named the same, I want Finder to merge the folder contents to the USB backup.

But my options are:

"Don't Replace - Stop - Replace"

Means nothing to me.

I want to merge.

Merge is an internationally recognised command, meaning ... to merge things together.

Without reeling off a huge list of complaints, I just think Apple have lost the plot, or never had the plot in the first place. Computing has always been about the software. The hardware just makes it happen faster. Apple are so focused on making things look awesome (thanks to Jony), that the software and user-experience in OS X is trash in comparison to Windows. Now Scott has been ejected maybe we will see REAL improvements, not just a bunch of apps bundled together and called an OS update.

Why wont Finder remember my column widths? Or why is there not an option for Finder to auto size my colum widths based on my file lengths? It's driving me .... bananas, every time I open Finder I have to manually set the **** column widths ... WHY????