Backup application folder only

Hi first thanks for read my quetion. My question is how can I back up only my application folder to a DVD, CD or ipod? can I just copy the app folder in a DVD, CD or ipod, do an erase and install and the drop the app folder from the DVD CD or ipod in the hard drive and the apps will work.
Thanks

You could drag over the apps, but may also need to drag over relevant preference and application support files as well to make them work as expected. Best to backup as much as possible (ideally a clone) to a backup drive first, then you can drag over files as required without losing anything vital!

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Backup Applications Folder, too?

I'm good about backing up. Usually just drag the USERS folder over to my LaCie, and let it do it's thing. (The other day I tried EXT HD software's, which basically did the same thing.)
But I wonder, why can't I easily also back up my Applications Folder? Wouldn't that make sense, too? Of course, I'm sure I could drag it over to my External Hard Drive and let it copy that, too. What's the thinking on this? Thanks.

Wow man... that was a great post!
I dl'd and ran Applejack and it found a lot of things. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to wack my user cache and prefs or not, but I did anyway. I figure it couldn't hurt. Since the user acct is what has the most action, I thought that perhaps that might be where some of the problem is.
Also, I think I understand backing up now with superduper or anything else. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what you are saying is that if I clone my current hard drive to another drive (I have a FW drive I can use, instead of USB), that is basically takes all the info on my current drive, and copy's it all to another location, except in a nice and neat order? If it's copying the drive, how does it know what's in or out of order, and what is perhaps not right? In my mind, cloning something doesn't mean making improvements. But perhaps you're saying that it takes all those system files, and puts them in a nice neat arrangement, rather than spread out across the disk. If that is the case, then I can understand that.
I guess I still don't understand why I should clone my current HD? What do I do with the old? Totally wipe it and start over with a fresh install? So then what do I do with the clone? Take things of my choosing, like applications and their pref's and move it over to the new install? That way I don't have to reinstall certain things?
And once I do this, what should I do with that clone? Overwrite it with the nice new reinstall of my OS, along with the app's that I want? And from there, use that clone as my guinnea pig for things before installing them for real? I like that idea.
So, if I install an OS to a FW drive, and boot to it, I can run that OS no problem, and any application on it. Let me ask you this... since I run an iMac, what if my internal HD started to fail? In theory, could I run my OS from the FW indefinitely? Would it be just as fast? Slower? Not a good idea? Just curious.
FWIW, I have Cocktail, TTP, and Disk Warrior, and I have ran them on this machine regularly. I actually figured that maybe TTP actually screwed something up, which is why I wanted to wipe and start over.
The reason why I think something is weird, is because very little will cause my CPU to max out. I dl'd and installed an update to Webkit, and my CPU MAXED while dl'ing and installing it. You can imagine how slow my machine gets when I run something that is really CPU intensive like an Audio application for recording. It's beach ball central, and so sluggish that I can't stand using it. I even added another 2gigs of ram, to max myself out at 2.5 (I have 3gigs installed, but this machine will only recognize 2.5), and it didn't really seem to improve by much.
At my office I use a 2.33 Core Duo iMac G5, and that thing is always fast. Granted, it's supposed to be MUCH faster than this machine. But even so, this machine shouldn't be all THAT frustrating to use should it? It's not far off from one of the older Mini's. Stink-o! I bought it new, and it's still covered under Applecare. But I'm not sure why I would want to take it in? It's a refurb from Apple. And ever since I bought it, I noticed that they musta had the machine apart at one time, and they wiped the inside of the monitor off, and left dark streaks!! I can't clean it off without taking the machine apart, which I'm not going to do. So, right there is a reason to take it to Apple. So they can fix that, and maybe run it thru it's paces. I don't know. I need to do that before my Applecare runs out. I'm wanting to sell this machine soon, so I can get a faster Intel machine, and I don't want to sell it with these streaks, even though you really don't see them unless yer on a white background.
Oh, one more thing, when I booted to Single User mode to run Applejack, my machine had all it's fans CRANKING, and for at least 20 min. The fans stopped immediately when I selected to fix my pref's, and before I hit enter. Isn't that strange? Also, the log on my screen, when I logged in to Single User Mode, indicated strange things that appeared to be "problems" with certain things. I took a pic with my phone, and can send them to you if you want to see.
Thanks for the help! Sorry this is so wordy!
J

How to Backup Home Folder Only?

How do I backup only my home folder. I only want to backup my data not all the system stuff and applications. Time Machine only lets me exclude things. So what it the best way of telling it to exclude everything except my HOME folder? Thanks....

If you just want to do... then don't use Time Machine...
You should be looking at Backup... it was just updated.
You can use it to easily schedule a backup of your home folder.

I had question marks on a few of my icons in the dock of my imac, then went to find them in my applications folder and there is absoluteley nothing there!

I had a few question marks on my icons in the dock, then went to find them in the applications folder only to discover there is nothing in there???

Sorry, i just turned my computer on......I noticed the question marks only when i went to open photoshop only to discover i couldn't. Along with Illustrator and Bridge ......everything was working the day before with no hitches.

Time Machine: I just found out that my backups doesn't contain the Applications folder anymore!

I take backups manually, irregularly, with Time Machine. Sometimes twice or thrice a day, sometimes much more seldom, and I recently found out that none of my backups since early June contain the Applications folder anymore.
(This caused a bit of a crisis, since the new upgrade of 1Passport demands that you delete the old version first - and when trying to open the new version I get the message: File corrupt, download again (or something equivalent), over and over again. So now my only option seems to be to use a version from early June, without many of my new passwords).
I've searched all help foras I've found, without coming across this issue - and no, I have not put the Applications folder in Time Machine's omit-panel.
This problem has probably come into existence during an upgrade of OSX 10.8 in early June this year.
So, if anyone could help, I'd be very grateful. How can the Applications folder suddenly stop to be backup'ed - and what to do with it??
Sincerely,
John Fridlund
Oslo, Norway

I know of at least two things that can cause this.
1)
It may be working but you need to be patient.
When I look back in time at my Applications Folder it often looks blank.
I wait a minute or two and then it populates the folder.
So try this simple test.
> Go > Applications
> Enter Time Machine
Click back in time.
Go get a cup of coffee. Enjoy it for a minute or two.
2)
If the apps do not reappear when you are patient try this:
You may have parameters set that exclude the applications folder.
This happened to me once, even though I never set this parameter.
> System Preferences > Time Machine
Click on the padlock if it is closed.
> Options
Check if it is excluding any things other than the backup volume.
If so remove them by selecting them an clicking on the minus sign.
Run a backup and check that the applications were really backed up repeat the steps above.

Restoring a home folder backed up using the Backup application (with the umbrella) to a new hard drive running Snow Leopard

I was running OS X 10.4 Tiger on a 2006 iMac. My home folder is backed up on a My Passport 500GB USB external drive using Backup (the original application that came pre-installed with the orange umbrella symbol).
I was intending to upgrade tp Snow Leopard so that I could sync a new iPad with iTunes and iPhoto so had ordered the disc from Apple and was waiting for it to arrive.
2 weeks ago my hard drive stopped - and I took the iMac to a support store (I am currently in Belgium and there is no Apple store here). They confirmed the hard drive was dead and as I had my receipt for Snow Leopard installed this for me.
Now I am trying to restore my home folder but the new OS does not recognise the data. I can see there is nearly 200GB of data on the external drive - but the folders contain small files call backup.log, backup.log.gz, InfoPlist.stringscat, stat0..... all under 5MB.
Applecare told me they did not know about the Backup application and it was not theirs..... then suggested I tried migration assistant.
With migration assistant, I just get a spinning wheel at the initial 'select your disk' page - spinning now for more than 8 hours. I checked on line and the only advice I saw was to use firewire - but my external drive works with the new high speed USB...
Can anyone help?

Thank you for your help - I now have a solution ...in case it helps someone else.....
...I also think I may have been a bit silly...
The solution - thanks to a great guy in Apple Support USA - thank you Matt!!
first I partitioned my hard drive using disk utility - and set 235GB for a separate install - I called it Tiger install disk
this allows your hard drive to act as 2 totally separate systems (by holding down the option key when you start the computer you can choose which you want)
then I reinstalled Tiger from my original discs onto the new part of my hard drive
then I read my backed up home folder and copied it to the Tiger system on the new hard drive section
then I rebooted and started up Snow leopard on the original part of the hard drive
then I used migration assistant to transfer from the 'Tiger install disc' drive - it was recognised by migration assistant
Where I think I may have been a bit silly
I am now not sure if the orginal backup was always visible in Snow Leopard
in Tiger I found backup.sparseimage - which when double clicked opened up my home folder
now that I have istalled Tiger as well - I can also find this in now Leopard... ...so maybe I just hadn't opened all the original folders on my backup disk...
...but for sure migration assistant could not read the backup copy

Time machine backup seems to only have a Sparsebundle folder

I have had my MacBook for a couple of years and have only just got round to backing it up. I set off Time Machine lat night for a 200Gb backup. This morning I checked it and the Time machine backup seems to only have a Sparsebundle folder of 1000s of small files but apparently no iTunes or photos??
Any ideas????

Thanks Mike,
I'm a bit new to Macs really and thought that once backed up, on my NAS system I would be able to view the photos etc. but I presume this isn't the case and I should not back up the photos as part of the Time Machine backup and back these up seperately in order to view them remotely etc?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Trying 2 download new version of Firefox and after being prompted 2 drag Firefox icon into Applications folder, get message that task can't b completed bc Firefox is in use, but only use am making of Firefox is 2 have it open 2 download new version

Trying 2 download new version of Firefox and after being prompted 2 drag Firefox icon into Applications folder, get message that task can't b completed bc Firefox is in use, but only use am making of Firefox is 2 have it open 2 download new version

If there are problems with updating or with the permissions then easiest is to download the full version and trash the currently installed version to do a clean install of the new version.
Download a new copy of the Firefox program and save the disk image (dmg) file to the desktop
* Firefox 7.0.x: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html
* Trash the current Firefox application to do a clean (re-)install
* Install the new version that you have downloaded
Your profile data is stored elsewhere in the Firefox Profile Folder, so you won't lose your bookmarks and other personal data if you uninstall and (re)install Firefox.
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Trying to dowload newest version of Firefox and after prompted 2 drag Firefox icon into Applications folder get message that task can't be completed bc Firefox is in use but only use I'm making is to have FF open to download new version.

Trying to download newest version and after prompted to drag the Firefox icon into the Applications folder get message that task can't be completed bc Firefox is in use, but only use I'm making of Firefox is to have it open to download the newest version.

If there are problems with updating or with the permissions then easiest is to download the full version and trash the currently installed version to do a clean install of the new version.
Download a new copy of the Firefox program and save the disk image (dmg) file to the desktop
* Firefox 7.0.x: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html
* Trash the current Firefox application to do a clean (re-)install
* Install the new version that you have downloaded
Your profile data is stored elsewhere in the Firefox Profile Folder, so you won't lose your bookmarks and other personal data if you uninstall and (re)install Firefox.
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

"An error occurred while attempting to load this plug-in." I donloaded the Nik Collection, but when I try "export with preset" the only preset as an option is HDR Efex Pro 2. The other plug ins appear in my applications folder, but I get the error messa

I downloaded the Nik Collection, but when I try "export with preset" the only preset as an option is HDR Efex Pro 2. The other plug ins appear in my applications folder, but I get the error message at the start of this post...I can us, say, Silver Efex stand alone, but I want to use as a plug in...can anyone help please..?

Hi,
Follow these instructions: Accessing the plug-ins from host applications - Nik Collection Help

User only application Folder - Dockulicious

I just noticed there is no application folder for just the user. Can I just set one up and place applications in it that only I have access to. Will this effect how the program performs? I was looking at the Dockulicious Docks apps which is really cool to change the dock. But I want to let each individual user set their own type dock.

Graig,
With a few exceptions, applications can go anywhere in the file system and run just fine. The most notable exceptions are Apple's own apps, and the need to have them in the main "Applications" folder is related to the ability to update them when needed. If I am not mistaken, some recent updates have addressed this issue, but it is still a good idea to keep them where they belong.
For your own third-party apps, you can create a folder anywhere in your own HOME folder, and place them there. If you want them in your Dock, just drag them there from wherever you place them.
Scott

My mac show 17gb of application but only 11gb in application folder

My mac show 17gb of application but only 11gb in application folder info so I want to know what is the 6gb that missing. Please solve this problem for me. Thanks

Disk Inventory X
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No more backup of the applications folder in Time Capsule

I realized that time machine didn't backup my applications. It worked OK 2 times after I setup the new 3TB time capsule but then it did stop end of July. I just realized it yesterday as i couldn't access a backup of the applications folder from last week.
Any suggestions? Is it a known problem

Yes, there is a known bug where some parts of the OS are not being backed up.
See D10 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Does Time Machine backup the Applications folder?

Hi everyone. I'm backing up my MBP with Time Machine with the intention of formatting and reinstalling ML. It's completed it's first backup, however the backup is 133GB and in Disk Utility it says I've used 220GB on my hard drive? What's happened to that 87GB? I've noticed also that on the Time Machine disk, the Applications folder is nowhere to be seen.... Has it backed up my applications? Why has it missed out 87GB of stuff? Thanks

Hi Steve, thanks for the reply.
Yes I've checked all that, applications is not in the exclude list, and the "used" value in disk utility is vastly different...
If you look at the number of files/folders on the Time Machine, it's almost half....

App opens then closes immediately, but only when in Applications folder

I have an app called Cyberduck, a freeware SSH client.
I put it in my Applications folder, and opened it, but it bounced a few times on the Dock, then closed. I tried again, keeps happening, every time.
What's weird is if I move it out of my Applications folder, into, say, my Downloads folder or the Applications folder on my Home directory, it opens and works just fine.
As soon as I move it back to Applications and try open it, same problem again!
Any ideas?

With Cyberduck not running, go into the "Library" -> "Preferences" folder (located under your home folder) and delete the .plist file for cyberduck (I think the name is ch.sudo.cyberduck.plist). You can either drag it to trash, or drag it to any location outside the ~/Libarary/Preferences folder -- such as the Desktop. Then start Cyberduck. Moving or deleting the .plist file will force it to create a fresh default plist for that application (as if it were a newly installed application.)

Backup application folder only

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