Restoring desktop from backed up user folder - Time machine doesn't ??

I need to restore my desktop from a backed up copy of my user files. Went to the Genius Bar and discovered my disk was failing (Apple replaced it at No Charge! kudos) The Genius backed up my files to a folder on my external hard drive before replacing the disk and installing Leopard. Got the machine back and installed the Leopard updates to 10.5.2 and then tried to reinstall my files. The migration assistant does not recognize my folder as a viable volume to back up. Time machine does not do it either (probably since it was not created in TIme machine).
Folders inside my backup folder include: Desktop, Documents, Downloads,Library, Magazines, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public, Sites, plus the remaining files that I had stored on my desktop.
Any thoughts on how to restore these files? I noticed my application folder was not in the back up, so I imagine that I will need to restore my applications separately. The ones that I am concerned about are iTunes and iPhoto, and they were part of the Leopard image that the Genius bar installed.

I have always had problems restoring from my backups. I just replaced my hard drive and did a restore and now there are no icons in the dock (all ?'s) and I cannot click on my Applications folder in any finder window. (Oh, and the fans run constantly at top speed after being on for about 3 minutes.)
This is probably the 10th restore I've done in the past couple of years and I don't think one has worked for me.

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Hallo Kieth ,
I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
Thanks for your interest and advice.
regards - Alan

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Hi
I migrated my old macbook to my new macbook pro with all the files and backed up to time machine.
I then restored my macbook pro using erase and install and started from scratch installing most apps from scratch and restoring some documents and apps from time machine from the old backup of the macbook pro (before erase and install).
I'm now having lots of issues with permissions. I can't save a lot of files in the folders they are already in - e.g. If I try to save a Logic song, it often won't let me save it in the folder it was in.
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okstevep wrote:
The reason I did the erase and install in the first place was because I had some kind of bug that was really slowing down my computer. An apple genius said that there were probably some issues with files that was causing this and the best way was to restore and start from scratch.
That's a last resort, but doesn't include a full restore. You have to reinstall all your 3rd-party apps from the original discs; re-enter all your preferences, configuration, and settings; and copy selected data files back. Not a quick or easy procedure, especially if you're not prepared in advance.
If I do a restore from back-up won't the problem come back?
Possibly, but it will get you back where you were, without the permissions problems, and without the confusion about which user account is which, so you can do something constructive.
Is there another way?
Depends. If you haven't done any backups since you erased, you could erase again, install a fresh copy of OSX, then use Setup Assistant to transfer everything else from your backups. Assuming you're running Snow Leopard (per your profile), see Using Setup Assistant on Snow Leopard or Leopard, especially the green box there.
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Restoring desktop from backed up user folder - Time machine doesn't ??

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