File Copy issue - Robust copy?

[typecase]

Hello all,

I am having a problem. I'd like to copy a folder to an external firewire drive. The folder is large (40GB) with lots of files. Halfway through copying, though OS X gives me an error saying there was a problem copying one file and it aborts entire process. I've had similar problems before if there is an isolated problem with one file. Is there some way I can force the copy, skipping a file that has an error? Is there some program out there with a more robust copy soloution? Perhaps it's as simple as UNIX command with the right switch. Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[jhu]

in a terminal try

cp -r <folder> <destination>​

where <folder> is the folder you want copied and <destination> is destination drive's mount point, which is usually found in the '/Volumes' directory

 

[BrewsterMccloud]

I've encountered this annoying problem when the folder contains certain files that were created in OS9 or Windows. I am not sure what it is about these files that the OSX Finder does not like. Workaround: zip the folder (control-click then choose option "Make archive of") then copy the folder to new destination, then unzip. Time-consuming but it works.