How do i backup only 1 particular folder in Time Machine

I dont know if this has been asked or not-frankly i just want to know because ive never even touched time machine before. I have a time capsule now at work and boss is telling me to backup my work to the time capsule using time machine. I keep hearing that this thing works backward, that you have to EXCLUDE folders you DONT want? Is that right? If so thats just plain stupid IMHO. All i want to do is setup a nightly backup of work and not have to worry about it. How do i best set this up?

2.So does that mean Im working directly on the external drive?
Yes.
Im confused with this solution. Im about to setup a Time Capsule HD as the target drive for TM or this OSX Backup idea above. The whole reason of doing that is so idont have to manually copy it there and then keep it updated.
I'm confused about what is confusing you. Storing data on an external drive is no different from storing it on an internal one. The whole point of this discussion, I thought, was that (a) you were under orders from your boss to back up your work data with Time Machine, and nothing but Time Machine; (b) you were, for some strange reason, dead set against backing up anything except your work data; and (c) you couldn't be bothered to set up a bunch of exclusions in Time Machine. This way, you don't have to. Just exclude the internal drive. The one you don't exclude -- the external -- will be backed up automatically, which is what you seem to want.

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Hi guys and gals,
I have a October 2011 MBP running OSX lion (10.7.2), with 2 internal drives (the main drive is a 120gb SSD, the optic drive has been replaced with the original 750gb HDD that came in the computer). I use the SSD for all of my system files, with the HDD being used for my user account, which has my photo and video libraries on them.
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Chris W oz wrote:
when it comes up with the "preparing to copy message" it hits ~24000 files and doesn't go any further.
That sounds like some sort of directory problem. Try Repairing the backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
I tried importing individual folders to reduce the number of files it was transferring in one hit and it doesn't hang. THe problem is after doing my users folder my desktop has changed and there are a lot of things that are not how they should be.
I'm not sure what you mean.
Are you trying to restore to your user home folder while it's in use? That could be part of the problem, but usually you'll get a message about things being in use, locked, or protected.
are there hidden files in the users folder that i am not seeing?
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There are a few others at the top level of your home folder, but I think they'll be recreated as necessary.
If i transfer the whole users folder will they transfer over (even though i cannot see them)?? Is there a way to transfer those hidden files??
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How do i backup only 1 particular folder in Time Machine

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