Can't move or copy app files to other volumes

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Level 1

5 points

Can't move or copy app files to other volumes

Since installing El Capitan I can't move or copy any app file (including third-party apps that don't need to be stored in the applications folder) to another volume (disk image, hard disk or USB). The process begins but never gets beyond 'preparing to copy' or 'preparing to move', and after this the Finder functions poorly and always has to be relaunched.

I thought that possibly this was related to the new System Integrity Protection utility which prevents system apps and apps installed from the app store being moved around. But I disabled it and it didn't help. This is a problem affecting third-party apps anyway.

I even tried moving an app file using the command line in Terminal, but trying to move an app generates the message that this item can't be moved because it is a directory. I don't really know what this means and freely admit that I'm beyond the limits of my knowledge here.

Disk first aid hasn't found any problems - I haven't had a chance to run a full diskwarrior.

I'm guessing that this is something that shouldn't be happening, given that every attempt I make just results in the Finder effectively freezing rather than getting any kind of alert to the effect that I'm attempting an illegal operation. But I'm reluctant to go for a full system reinstall without finding out first if this is the result of a bug in El Capitan.

Can anyone shed any light?

Using mid 2012 Macbook Pro (retina screen)

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 11:29 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,215 points

Oct 4, 2015 12:42 PM in response to JemG

User File Ownership - Reset see post by Linc Davis

You may need to rebuild permissions on your user account. To do this,boot to your Recovery partition (holding down the Command and R keys while booting) and open Terminal from the Utilities menu. In Terminal, type: ‘resetpassword’ (without the ’s), hit return, and select the admin user. You are not going to reset your password. Click on the icon for your Macs hard drive at the top. From the drop down below it select the user account which is having issues. At the bottom of the window, you'll see an area labeled Restore Home Directory Permissions and ACLs. Click the reset button there. The process takes a few minutes. When complete, restart.

Repair User Permissions

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Answer 2

JemG Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2015 5:08 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks very much for that. I followed the steps and found that at the end there was no wait for the reset process to finish - the reset button merely switched from reset to 'Done' (but greyed out) immediately. I'm not sure if that indicates a problem or if it's just typical of how some of the processes in El Capitan are now somewhat sped up. The problem hasn't gone away at all. It does seem very likely that it's some kind of permissions issue but this doesn't seem to have solved it, unfortunately.

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Answer 3

fortis70

Level 1

0 points

Oct 6, 2015 11:25 AM in response to JemG

i have found the solution. you can no longer drag a file and drop it onto a hard drive or such.

the solution is to use the EDIT menu. click on the file that you want to copy onto the hard drive. go the edit menu and click "copy,

then click on the hard drive that you want the file copied to and click PASTE. the file will then copy to the hard drive

why has apple made this such a long and wearisome process. it worked fine before so now apple has FIXED it.

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Answer 4

JemG Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 8, 2015 6:33 AM in response to fortis70

Thanks but that isn't it. Both methods of copying produce the same effect for me. This is after a full run of diskwarrior even...

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Answer 5

Dec 21, 2015 11:56 AM in response to JemG

I realize this is a late reply, but I just came across your post because I was experiencing the same problem. That problem being that after downloading an app and double-clicking the DMG file, Finder was stuck on "Preparing to copy..." so long I got tired of waiting.

Anyway, this isn't a solution, as such, but at least it got me around the problem. All I did was:

1. Mount the .dmg file (by double-clicking in Finder.)

2. Open a new Finder window and click on the device representing the mounted .dmg file.

3. Start the app (by double-clicking the app file.)

At this point, a dialog popped up asking me if I wanted to install the app in the Applications folder. I replied affirmatively, and the copy was finished in mere seconds, after which the application continued starting.

I can't say whether all applications behave the same, as I don't know whether this behavior is the OS or if the application itself is coded to do this. But I can say it is worth a shot! It worked for me. Maybe it will work for others.

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