Is there a way i can restore my mac to a previous date without having previously backed it up using time machine or disk utility?

Question

So over the past few days out of nowhere my macbook pro has started behaving very erratically, i have yet had time to properly set up time machine on an alternate device and i was wondering if it was possible to restore my system to a few days ago? i have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the most problematic programs but they still crash on open. My largest issue has been firefox which deleted all of my bookmarks and would not show a url in the navigation bar.  as well as neither my trackpad or usb mouse would allow me to left-click until after i had restarted my laptop 3 times.  Anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

OS X doesn't have a "system restore" like Windows has.
You have to use TimeMachine or a external clone previously made.
My largest issue has been firefox which deleted all of my bookmarks and would not show a url in the navigation bar.
Uninstall all your add-ons, remove Firefox for now and use Safari
Use a external drive to make a copy of your user files only (not Timemachine) and disconnect all drives.
If you've installed crapware like MacKeeper you need to uninstall it here
http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/
If you've installed a always on anti-virus you need to uninstall it using the devlepers uninstaller
as well as neither my trackpad or usb mouse would allow me to left-click until after i had restarted my laptop 3 times.
Stick in your 10.6 install disk and reboot holding the c key down, boot off the disk and simply reinstall 10.6
reboot holding the Shift key down, then Apple menu > Software update to 10.6.8
reboot and try running all your third party software, a few may not work and have to be reinstalled as they insert kext files into OS X which you just replaced.
check the status of your plugins like Flash and Silverlight here, update if needed
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/
Now go to System Preferences and create another new user and log into it, does things seem fine?
Now log into your original user, does it seem fine?
Now install Firefox by itself, does it seem fine?
Add add-ons one at a time in FF, does everything seem fine?
Try FF in the new user, everything seem fine?
It should be, you've just replaced your OS X, bundled programs and replaced Firefox.
If something still is occuring but only in that first user then you need to transfer personal files to the new user and delete the old one it's corrupted. You can re-create the first user again and transfer files back so things work again (itunes playlists etc.)
Next time make a TimeMachine drive or a Carbon Copy Cloner which is bootable and updates on your scheduale.