Clean install - reinstall data & settings from last time machine backup

My machine is really slow, the beach ball is spinning all too often - it's time for a clean install Snow Leopard
I have already done a final time machine backup. I want to restore email and accounts, safari settings, iTunes music and Document files - nothing else.
How do I do this without reinstalling the whole backup I've just made? Can I easily cherry pick the bits I want?
Thanks in advance
Matt

MATT-MAC wrote:
My machine is really slow, the beach ball is spinning all too often - it's time for a clean install Snow Leopard
I agree with Barry; that's rarely very helpful on OSX. See below for some suggestions.
I have already done a final time machine backup. I want to restore email and accounts, safari settings, iTunes music and Document files - nothing else.
How do I do this without reinstalling the whole backup I've just made? Can I easily cherry pick the bits I want?
To a degree, yes. See #15 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for the procedure to restore selected items, and #28 for the location of some common data files.
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One frequent cause of performance problems is simple: not enough free space on your OSX disk. If there's less than about 15% free (perhaps less on a large drive), your Mac will probably begin to slow down noticeably.
Another is "leftovers" from applications that weren't completely deleted. One clue to that, among other possible problems, is the size of your logs. See the green box in [OSX Log Files|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Logs.html]. If yours are large, it will show you how to find and deal with the culprits.
Another is running anti-virus software on OSX. Other than ClamXav, most of it is not only unnecessary, but more of a problem than having a virus! See Thomas Reed's [Mac Virus Guide|http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus].
If you suspect an actual problem with your installation of OSX, start by downloading and installing the 10.6.5 "combo" update. That's the cleverly-named combination of all the updates to Snow Leopard since it was first released, so installing it should fix anything that's gone wrong since then, such as with one of the normal "point" updates. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1324 Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards.
If that doesn't help, reinstall OSX from your Snow Leopard Install disc (that won't affect anything else), then apply the "combo" again.
Also see:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/performance.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/lackofram.html

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Clean install - reinstall data & settings from last time machine backup

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