I want to wipe my system and only restore certain files to keep my system uncluttered and fresh. I use Time Machine so I thought I don't have anything to do now that everything is backed up. Someone told me once that Time Machine files can only be accessed by the user that created them (me). If I wipe my hard drive, that user will no longer exist. When I reinstall OS X, it will be a new user, so would that new user still be able to easily access and copy back the files from the Time Machine drive onto the internal drive? I know there's a feature called "Browse other Time Machine Disks" but I don't know if that allows me to do anything I want and whether it will conflict with the new system. I also know about Migration Assistant but I don't want to use such automatic methods since I'm afraid it will restore problems from my old system.
So in short, will I be able to easily get my files back one by one (not "all or nothing" like with Migration Assistant) from Time Machine when I will have my clean, freshly reinstalled OS X, with possibly a different username? Or does this only work if I type in the exact same user name as I am using now?
So in short, will I be able to easily get my files back one by one (not "all or nothing" like with Migration Assistant) from Time Machine when I will have my clean, freshly reinstalled OS X, with possibly a different username? Or does this only work if I type in the exact same user name as I am using now?