How to restore system settings with Time machine?

Is there a way to restore just system settings using my TM backups? The latest apple update killed all my settings and i'm hoping TM can help me get them back.

your profile suggests your on 10.4.10 (while you're posting in the 10.6.x forum). have you tried installing the _*10.4.11 combo update*_ to see if that fixes things ?
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

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How to Restore System Preferences From Time Machine

Hi,
Is there any way to restore past system preferences using Time Machine (such as desktop photo, trackpad settings, screensaver, etc.)? I would like to revert to some of these past settings without restoring my whole system from the backup disk & DVD.
Thanks in advance!

You can do that, but you have to figure out which preferences you want, and what file(s) they're in. And there are about a zillion of them!
Most user-level preferences you set via System Preferences are in one big file:
*<home folder>/Library/Preferences/com.apple/systempreferences.plist*
but a few are in separate files, such as:
*<home folder>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screensaver.plist*
System-level preferences, such as Time Machine's preferences, are in separate files in the top-level Library folder:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
or one of several files in the sub-folder:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguraton
Other preferences, such as all your Mail accounts, rules, etc., are in separate files at the user level, such as:
*<home folder>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist*

How to restore email-Account with Time-Machine

Hi,
I realized to my surprise that all my email accounts except the icloud one are gone from mail, after I restarted my mac. I do not know why this happened, crash or something ... - I only know that I only see my icloud account in the inbox.
I read the discussions about restoring mails with TM but what I wanted to avoid is to setup my 5 emails accounts manually again. I want to have them restored via TM (as I already have local copies after them emails in the inboxes I do not really care abouut the mails agains..) . I do not want to setup all the different acount settings again and again.
So the question is: Where are those account informations kept in TM? Can I restore them with mail open or do I ahve to close the mail app on my iMac and then simply restore a certain file/folder with TM (I hope it is such easy ...)
Thanks for support!
Christoph

The account settings are stored in ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Accounts.plist
So try again with Time Machine.
Browse to the MailData Folder, open Time Machine (click in the toolbar
and select Enter Time Machine) the go back to a time before the Accounts.plist file was changed and click Restore.

HT1338 How to restore iphoto photo with Time Machine?

I am trying to restore a single photo in iPhoto from Time Machine.
I open up iPhoto, then upen up Time Machine. When Time Machine launches, it opens up my desktop, not iPhoto.
I have seen videos of people doing this, but I cannot get Time Machine to open up iPhoto.
What am I doing wrong?

Apple used to support restoration of photos via the iPhoto interface with Time Machine, but has halted this support. I believe the reason was the feature was corrupting people's libraries, but I cannot be certain. Your options here are to restore either the entire library or manually go into the library in the Finder and use Time Machine to browse through file histories that way. Alternatively you can access the Time Machine backup directly in the Finder and manually copy the needed files out of it (do not restore in this way, but instead copy to the Desktop and then re-import the image as a new photo).

How do I restore 'network settings' with time machine?

I messed with my with my wi-fi settings...having internet access problems...want to go back the way it was a few days ago (when it worked OK)...but on lion time machine, can't find systempreferences plist to restore (no User/Library/... any more). So how do I restore my network settings in system preferences? TIA

to make your user library visible, in Finder hold down the option/alt key while selecting the Go menu item. Select Library.
If you want to make your user library permanently visible, run the below command in Applications/Terminal.
chflags nohidden ~/Library/
You will need to do that after any updates.

How to Restore Safari Bookmarks with Time Machine in Lion

Hi -
I want to restore my Safari bookmarks.
I am running Lion and have a Time Machine backup with the correct bookmarks.plist file.
The problem - as I see it - is that the "Library" folder - where the Safari bookmarks.plist file is located - no longer shows up (by default in Lion) in the Home folder.
I fixed it so that "Library" does now show up in the home folder but since it was not set to show "Library" at the time the backup I need was done, it doesn't show up in the Home folder for the backup that I need.
I have tried restoring the entire Home folder but this is not restoring my bookmarks for some reason.
I even tried restoring the entire hard drive but that did not work either!
It would seem that the "library" folder - even if it was hidden - would be restored when I did the entire Home folder or the entire hard drive.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

Brillianrt! Worked like a charm.
Then I found an easy solution to alphabetizing that doesn't require 3rd party software in a Macworld article:
"Without resorting to external tools or dragging links about, it’s actually fairly simple to order the list. Make sure you can see a Finder window, or your Desktop, and the Safari Bookmarks window at the same time. Now just drag the folder (or folders) you want sorted from the Safari window to your Desktop—you’ll see the folder appear when you release the mouse. Switch to the Finder, and open each folder. Set the view to List view, and then close the window (not strictly necessary, but I’m a neat freak).
Now drag the folder back into Safari’s Bookmarks window; Safari will treat it like a newly-imported folder of bookmarks and add it to the list. Open the folder in the Bookmarks window, and you’ll see your neatly-sorted bookmarks."
Love my Mac

How to restore Address Book with Time Machine -

hello, I'm quite desperate beacuse the new version of iTunes has cancelled all my contacts and does no longer sync with Outllok for Mac.
On the Time Machine I see my old contacts in yesterdays' address book, but if I click on restore it just does not do it and returns to this messy verion of my address book. can anyone help me?
please

It looks to me like this other discussion from last year may offer you some useful suggestions:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17891606#17891606
Hope that helps.
Ivan

How do I restore email settings with Time Machine and Mountain Lion?

Like so many others, I have tried to follow suggestions of going to Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist.
It does not exist. and it does not show up in any search. Here is a shot of my Finder... it's not there in Preferences.

to make your user library visible, in Finder hold down the option/alt key while selecting the Go menu item. Select Library.
If you want to make your user library permanently visible, run the below command in Applications/Terminal.
chflags nohidden ~/Library/
You will need to do that after any updates.

Restore System Files From Time Machine

Hello,
Is it possible to to restore system files from Time Machine? I was trying to make the Imac a local host, and something is not working right. I just need to go back one day and over write some of the system files. Is this possible with TM?
Thanks JR

See Here > How do I restore my entire system?
From Here > http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
More Info Here > http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

How to restore iTunes Library from Time Machine on Mavericks?

Please, can someone give me the instructions on how to restore iTunes Library from Time Machine on Mavericks?

See Pondini's TM FAQs, for details.

How to do a backup with time machine?

Hi Communitieee,
I dont know how to make a backup with time machine. Can anybody help me?
And i have another question.. whats wrong with library? when i start my mac the message is popping up but i dont know what it means..
Thanks
KR

Ok thanks mende1.
Whats with time machine? I already take a look to the link but i could not find the answer of my problem. Can you please take a look of this screenshot?!
I dont have an extern hard drive. i just want to save my pics and the other data of my mac.

HT4710 how to restore/import photos from Time machine while using Lion

how to restore/import photos from Time machine while using Lion

Launch Time Machine, go to the time you want to restore from and select what you want to restore and click restore - once the photos are restored improt to iPhoto - or restore the entire iPhoto librarhy and use it
LN

How do I restore lost emails with Time Machine?

I would like to know how I restore lost drafts that I had on my mail program 6.6 with Time Machine.
I forgot that when you restore the mail program (was buggy) it saves all your emails except for your drafts. So now I need to find all the drafts that were deleted with my Time Machine.
Where are the drafts store prior to when I have to delete my mail program because of bugs in it?
How do I find them once I launch Time Machine. Can't recall where they are stored in my systems folder?
Thanks for any help regarding this.

From Apple support article: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
To restore individual files see Restoring specific files or folders.
Restoring your entire system from a backup
Hold down the Command and R keys at startup to start the computer from the Recovery system. The Recovery menu that appears includes the option to restore from a Time Machine backup. If you are using Mac OS X Snow Leopard, start your computer from the installation disc. Then use the "Restore From Time Machine Backup" utility.
The Recovery system explained: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

HT201250 How to view old desktops with Time Machine?

Hi, I was wondering how you can view your old desktops from past updates with Time Machine? Such as the wallpaper that was used and how your dock icons were arranged. I don't mean a full restore just a quick view of the old desktops. Thanks in advance.

i think it will be the com.apple.desktop.plist on the user library

Trying to undo an inadvisable system config with Time Machine...

Basically, I'm trying to restore my entire Leopard system back to the way it was at 10am this morning.
Today, I made a lot of unconventional configurations to my apache2 that I'm not comfortable with - now, I want it gone but I'm having trouble with Time Machine.
After clicking Time Machine, I scrolled back to 10am this morning (before I did all the stupid stuff) and selected the entire "Macintosh HD" from the finder window and then clicked "Restore" - but strangely, it is asking me what folder I would like to dump my restore into...I don't want to dump it into a folder, I would like it restored.
Is there something I misunderstand about Time Machine?
Will it not restore my entire system like that?
Thanks

RogerMac wrote:
Will it not restore my entire system like that?
No, you can't restore the volume you're running from.
To restore your entire system, see #14 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).

How to restore system settings with Time machine?

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