Backed up, what do i do now?

Question

Intel Core Duo 15
My husband threw all his documents in the trash and emptied it.
I told him to stop using the computer immediately.
He was using the program called Backup that was from the dot mac service.
There is a full backup from 2007, and incremental ones since then.
So it seems like everything is backed up on an external drive.
Since there is no documentation for Backup, I do not want to proceed without knowing more.
Can I restore the files to another external drive and not use the Mac drive?
If so, I would like to do that. How do I restore?
If it would restore the files to the Mac, I do not want to do that just in case it does not work.
Then I would consider using Data Rescue and get the files right from the Mac.
What is the best approach?

Answer 1

I have Apple Backup 3.12, though I haven't used it for years.
I don't know if there is separate documentation, but It has a Help menu. I just searched there for "restore" and got a number of results, including:
Restoring backed-up files using an existing backup plan
If a file you backed up (using Backup) becomes lost or damaged, you can use Backup to restore it. You can restore backed-up files to their original location or to an alternate location of your choice.
IMPORTANT: If you are restoring items from your iTunes or iPhoto library, click one of the links below for instructions.
To restore backed-up files to their original location:
Select a backup plan in the Backup window and click Restore.
Select a backup in the Previous Backups column.
Select the items you want to restore and click Restore Selection.
In the dialog that appears, choose whether to restore only files missing from their original locations or all the files in the backup.
If you deleted files accidentally and want to restore only the missing files, select "Restore missing items."
To replace existing files with the backed-up files, select "Replace existing items."
To restore the files to another location, select "Restore to an alternate location" before you click Restore Selection, choose where you want the files, and click Open.
Note: Some applications—such as Mail, Stickies, and Address Book—store all of their data as a group, like a deck of cards. When you restore an address book, for example, the whole book gets replaced. That means that contacts added after the backup won't appear in the restored file.
and also:
Restoring backed-up files without a backup plan
You can restore backed-up files even if the plan that backed up those files no longer exists in Backup. You might need to do this, for example, if you don't have the computer you used to create a backup plan or you accidentally deleted a backup plan.
To restore without a backup plan:
Choose Plan > Restore From Backup and locate the backup file you want to restore from (or, in the Finder, double-click the backup file containing the items you want to restore).
The backup file may be on a CD or DVD, a hard disk, or in the Backups folder on your iDisk (it depends on the destination chosen when the files were backed up). The backup file may have either the full backup or incremental backup icon.
Backup creates a backup plan for you (you can set up a schedule for it later).
Select the items you want to restore and click Restore Selection.
In the dialog that appears, choose whether to restore only files missing from their original locations or all the files in the backup:
If you deleted files accidentally and want to restore only the missing files, select "Restore missing items."
To replace existing files with the backed-up files, select "Replace existing items."
To restore the files to another location, select "Restore to an alternate location" before you click Restore Selection, choose where you want the files, and click Open.
There may be additional material in the Help menu worth reading.