Please don't erase my external drive!
 

When I launched SD! for the first time it said that it would first erase the external firewire drive.

I have loads of other stuff on the drive I'd like to use to keep a clone of my hard drive & could really do without having to sort it out or move it right now.

If I choose the "copy newer files" option it says "no files will be removed".

Does this include all the files that are already on the drive or will the drive still be erased as in the first option?

Nothing will be erased, snowdog, though things can still be overwritten if there's a folder/naming conflict.

Rather than doing that, let me suggest that you read the User's Guide section on "Storing a backup alongside other files on a destination drive". That gives you other options, some of which are much better than using "Copy Newer".

Hope that helps.

Thanks, I'll have a look.