Clean install followed by partial Time Machine restore possible?

[peterdevries]

I need to do a clean install of Snow Leopard on my machine, but don't want to restore everything that is on my time machine. I have purchased much shareware software that I don't currently need and don't want hogging disk space.

Is it possible to do a partial restore of selected programs and their settings, or is it an all-or-nothing affair?

Thanks for your help!

 

[MarkMS]

It's possible. But why not restore everything then delete the apps you don't want? If that is not an option, you can load up a clean install of Snow Leopard, enable Time Machine and click "enter time machine" to manually move needed files. I'm not sure about settings, but I think it's possible as long as you grab the right files within your Library folder.

I did this a few days back on a new iMac my parents got. I just restored needed folders and files from Time Machine and redid their settings manually. Only thing I backed up manually was their bookmarks and keychain settings.

 

[stallie]

My mbp needs to go in for repair with 400gb on it's drive. I need a laptop for a few days, can I put my old 160gb drive into my wife's MacBook format it, install SL and do a partial time machine reinstall of essential files?