I am trying to set up TortoiseSVN. I am using the Windows version and using the context menu, you right click and it has some options.
For initially getting my files
Export is not what you think it is. It's used to get the files that are already in the repository without the extra versioning data.
For my initial import, I usually just
I've never had an issue doing it this way.
This is essentially the same as the Import in place section of the TortoiseSVN manual. Except that I copy the files in after checkout to avoid the warning.