Will time machine restore an application?

I am new to MAC. I have been backing up my files since I started using my new machine in November. Recently I have had a lot of trouble with the iMovie application. It seems to have started after the January 15th update. I would like to restore the application to its state on January 14th to see if the problem is eliminated. Can I go to January 14th and restore the iMovie application files?
Thanks
NEPA

You iMovie 08 application either came on your install disk that came with your computer or on an iLife 08 retail disk.
If your computer came with a Leopard CPU upgrade dvd or if you bought a retail version, the iLife apps are not on that disk.
They will be on either the retail iLife disk or the original install disks that came with the computer, which would have had to have been Mac OS X 10.4.10 install disks in order to have the iLife 08 package included.
You would need to insert disk 1 of that pair in order to launch "Install Bundled Software Only" and then insert disk 2 when prompted.

Similar Messages

HT201250 When getting a replacement Seagate hard drive for my Imac through Apple, will they restore my system to it's current state? Or will I have to do it myself though Time Machine? Will Time machine restore all the programs as well?

Apple has determined that certain Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.
Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected hard drives free of charge.
Will this replacement program restore my system to its current state after the new drive is installed? If not, will I have to have all my original disks to re-install all the programs on my current computer, or will Time Machine restore them as well?

Most of them will tell you to backup your data.
Time Machine is nice, but unless you are interested in archival backup, Carbon Copy Cloner is a lot easier to recover from:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1992

Time Machine Restore Specific Applications

When Snow Leopard is available for purchase, I plan on doing a fresh install on my Macbook. I am wondering, will my Time Machine be able to restore certain applications? I don't want to restore everything from Time Machine, only certain applications. Does Time Machine allow for this?

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Yes, Time Machine can restore individual items, including apps. Here's a demo: Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine can also be used to restore all your configuration, settings, apps, users, preferences, data, etc., after purchasing a new Mac, or doing an Erase and Install. See the *Erase, Install, & Migrate* section of the Glenn Carter - Restoring Your Entire System / Time Machine *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
And, if your hard drive fails, it can be used to restore your entire system to the exact state it was in at the time of any backup. See the *Restore System From Backup...* section of that same Tip.
But you may want to re-think your strategy. It's usually much better to delete what you don't want, rather than, in effect, delete everything and try to pick and choose to restore what you do want.
If you're thinking of the Windoze world, where a PC will gradually slow down, and needs a periodic reinstall to clear out assorted junk and speed it back up, that's rarely the case with OSX.
While we don't know what the Snow Leopard procedure will be, usually when Apple releases a new version of OSX, all you have to do is an "Archive and Install, preserving users and settings." That moves the current OSX into a "Previous System" folder, which you can delete as soon as you're comfortable, and leaves your configuration, settings, users, etc. alone.
Perhaps if you tell us just what you're hoping to accomplish, we can provide better advice.

Will Time Machine restore software problems as well as data?

Hi all -
I've got a 20" aluminum (2007) iMac with Leopard (all updates installed) and Time Machine. I'm having a shutdown problem that I'm trying to resolve. Yesterday, the computer started powering itself off randomly, as if someone pulled the power plug. I ran both the quick and extended Apple Hardware Tests, and both came up clean (no errors). I'm thinking this may be a software problem.
I'd like to reload Leopard to clean up the software. However, I already tried doing a Restore via Time Machine yesterday, and the problem did not go away. I restored to the previous day - prior to when the shut downs started happening.
My question is - If I reload Leopard using the "Restore" feature of Time Machine, does that also copy any problems I had backed up in software to the reloaded system? My guess is yes, since all of my applications remain intact after the Time Machine Restore.
That said, I find Time Machine to be absolutely brilliant in its simplicity and functionality, and think it should be in every single computer user's hands.
At any rate, I'm fearing that I'm going to have to do a clean install and then reinstall all of my software manually to get a truly clean system, then restore data manually via my Time Machine backup. I hope I'm wrong.
Can anybody shed some light? Thanks,
Shelly

it really does back up almost everything, even broken files. Go back to the initial backup and restore from that. If that doesn't fix it, you've got hardware problems.
Crashes are one thing, hangs another, but actual shutdowns where the computer just goes completely off really indicate hardware problems. Software by itself won't do that, even if it's broken.
- gws

Time machine restore. Applications missing

Upgraded my MacBook hard drive.
Full restore from Time Machine. All OK with no error messages.
But all Applications are missing. Dock aliases are all question marks.

then it was most likely excluded from backups. have you excluded anything from backups? start TM scroll back and see if this folder is backed up at all at an point in time. if it is you can restore it.

Will Time Machine restore my computer to pre-Snow Leopard days?

Since installing Snow Leopard I have had nothing but problems with VMWare Fusion, with printing from Aperture and iPhoto to to my Epson R1800 printer (even though I downloaded and installed their new Snow Leopard drivers) etc., etc. I wish to return to simpler times as I am not a software engineer and don't wish to go through the hoops that seem necessary to make this work.

If you still have your Leopard installer, it will restore to the last Leopard backup, or the first Leopard backup you have stored on your Time Machine backup.

Time Machine restore and applications

I just purchased a new 320GB HD to replace the 120GB that came with my MacBook. Awhile back, I posted about an Address Book problem [here|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1712440]. I was never able to resolve it, and gave up trying. I assume it's some corrupted file somewhere, but nothing seems to work. Anyhow, I thought this might be a good time to fix it since I'll be reinstalling OS X.
So the question is: if I restore from a Time Machine backup, will it bring whatever corrupted file is causing the problem along with it? It sure would be great if I didn't have to reinstall ALL my apps and preferences.

Pondini wrote:
Did you copy, or use Time Machine to restore directly to Address Book? I guess it's too late to try anything else now, though. And as posted earlier, if V.K. couldn't figure it out, it's doubtful anybody else can.
I just did a drag-and-drop of my contacts onto the desktop. Although it may have been smart to try using Time Machine, it didn't occur to us at the time, and any changes in the data has since been deleted when my TM drive filled.
Can I restore selectively from Time Machine? For example, could I restore JUST my iTunes library, documents, photos, etc. and then start fresh with everything else?
Yes, but that's more difficult than you may think. Here are the options:
You can restore your entire system from your backups in one process, per the previous reference.
You can do an Erase and Install, then migrate from your backups, as detailed in the *Erase, Install, & Migrate* section of the Glenn Carter - Restoring Your Entire System / Time Machine post at the top of this forum. The main difference here is, you get a fresh copy of OSX.
You could limit what you restore that way, but you can't "fine tune" it the way you want. You can restore your configuration and apps, but omit your user data, for example.
Then, once you restart, you'd have to selectively restore what you want, via the normal +Enter Time Machine+ interface. That's going to be rather tedious, especially for those apps that store their data in multiple files and/or places.
This is almost what I'm looking for, but the other way around...can I omit the apps but restore my user data? That should accomplish exactly what I want. I know it'll be tedious, but that's not the end of the world.
So yes, it can be done, and might fix your Address Book problem. But it might not, and you may introduce other problems by restoring things piecemeal. Great choice, right?
Well I am realizing that I will have several copies of my data....TM, a SuperDuper clone, and the original hard drive....so if something doesn't go right, the worse case basis is that I restore from one of those backups...and just live with my Address Book problem.....and cross my fingers that Snow Leopard will fix the problem.

Macbook Pro will not boot after full time machine restore

I have a 15-inch Macbook Pro, current model with the i7 processor, which I purchased in August 2010. Last week, when I tried to turn it on, it would not boot (just got to the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel). I took it in for repair and was told that it had a bad hard drive. The hard drive was replaced and I got the computer back yesterday.
Everything looked good, it turned on, so I did a complete restore from my Time Machine backup on my Time Capsule, following the instructions on this page: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15638.html
The restore was successful and the computer prompted me to restart. I clicked the button to allow the restart and now I am back to the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel. It won't boot again.
I also looked at this discussion (http://discussions.info.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10924233) and it sounds like the person here was able to get his computer to work after doing the Time Machine restore in the same process I used, so I don't know what else to do.
I don't live near an Apple store, so it would be great if I could figure this out myself. Thanks for any help!

skylaneval wrote:
I have a 15-inch Macbook Pro, current model with the i7 processor, which I purchased in August 2010. Last week, when I tried to turn it on, it would not boot (just got to the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel). I took it in for repair and was told that it had a bad hard drive. The hard drive was replaced and I got the computer back yesterday.
Everything looked good, it turned on, so I did a complete restore from my Time Machine backup on my Time Capsule, following the instructions on this page: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15638.html
See #E8 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).

Apple Modem will not answer after Time Machine Restore

After restoring from a Time Machine backup the Apple External Modem no longer answers incoming [fax] calls. I verified all modem/fax settings - they are good and the same as before the restore. The Modem Status in the Menu Bar doesn't indicate "ringing..." when the line is ringing and the Fax no longer answers.
Opening the Console I see these errors repeating endlessly-
9/15/08 10:09:10 AM com.apple.service_helper[1271] com.apple.efax: Already loaded
9/15/08 10:09:10 AM [0x0-0x15015].com.apple.systempreferences[155] No matching processes were found
9/15/08 10:09:27 AM com.apple.efax[1274] /usr/bin/fax: line 537: cd: /var/spool/fax: No such file or directory
I believe the fax app is supposed to create this dir, but I created the dir in /var/log/ as follows:
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 68 Sep 15 10:33 fax
Makes no difference, rebooted, still makes no difference, ran disk utility to see if it would change permissions, no it didn't - still getting the errors, so there's something else that's also missing after a restore, or the error message is erroneous since the dir now exists.
It appears a Time Machine Restore - doesn't restore all that's needed for the fax subsystem to work. I thought the restore was supposed to completely restore the volume to previous operating state?
Any help on this would be great, I now have no incoming FAX - one of the main jobs of this Mini - thx - KR

By the way, it's running OS X 10.5.4

Lots of permission errors after a full time machine restore.

So I replaced my hard drive in my MacBook Pro with a 500GB and when in reinstalled leopard i jest did a time machine restore, now if I check the permission i have this long list that it jest can not seam to fix. Here is the list. What should i do about it?
Reading permissions database.
Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/DVD.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSettings.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSources.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Movies.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Music.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Photos.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Podcasts.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/TV.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/BackRow.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/InternetUtilities.bundle/Contents/ CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunesHelper.app/Contents/CodeResou rces", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/Filesystems/AppleShare/afpLoad" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/setregion" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Versions/A/Resources/runner " has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/Printers/IOMs/LPRIOM.plugin/Contents/MacOS/LPRIOMHelper" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iLifeMediaBrowser.framework/Versions/A/CodeRe sources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/CodeResourc es", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/BlackAndWhiteEffect.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/CubeTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/DissolveTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/DropletTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/FadeThroughBlackTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/FlipTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/MosaicFlipTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/MosaicFlipTransitionSmall.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/PageFlipTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/PushTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/RevealTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/SepiaEffect.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/TwirlTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/A/Resources/P lugins/WipeTransition.IAPlugin/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
ACL found but not expected on "Applications".
Permissions repair complete

This has been reported elsewhere in these forums.
They are not errors, they are warnings and informative statements, but not real errors and they can be ignored as you will find when you search
for the other posts about this exact same topic.
If you uncheck the Show Details" box in DU, you will only see real errors and these will not show up.
Yes they are annoying, and if you read my other post you get more information.

Upgrading: Migration Assistant with FireWire or Time Machine Restore?

Hello,
I recently ordered a new Black Penryn MacBook to replace my 17" iMac. Would you recommend using the Migration Assistant with FireWire or a Time Machine restore in order to copy all of my data to the MacBook? I have the option to do both, but am unsure of which would be the best. Is the time machine restore more suited to restore a failed drive as opposed to facilitating a data transfer between two machines? Finally, regarding either of the transfer options, will there be any issues with keychain or application data that I should be aware of? Thanks for your help!

Those are two of the option presented by Migration Assistant. I think the end result will be the same. If I was doing it, I'd use the FireWire method, just because it's coming directly from the source instead of through a backup archive structure.

Time machine restore selective intonation vs full installation compromised system

I have some questions regarding the above mentioned issue
I have reviewed notes regarding selective app restore method and am aware that there are issues assossiated with failed apps since the original app installer installs files in various libraries and system settings
My backed up Mac contains rogue programs such as the programming app python 3 and various rogue bugs and system settings.
1 Does a full restore reset all backed up system settings or does it keep the fresh installation and include all your apps and settings such as mail accounts mail folders documents pictures movies podcasts etc without the bugs
2 Should the answer to 1 be a yes all compromised settings will be restored, then will I have issues with installing VMware fusion as its an encripted integrated app that I keep all my master business applications but store documents in the Mac documents area.
Other factors
1 My accounting tax business has been hacked over and over again for the last 7 months from start of tax season
2 I have lost 50% of my clients due to the interruptions and been hospitalized twice from sitting on the computer for extended hours and days reinstalling fresh system and restoring Mac documents only, 3 times over, as well as trying to learn everything about best practice, hacks etc
3 I'm using fire vault 2 however the time machine backup is not encripted are there any potential problems with either of the two methods?
4 I will be using a proxy server when I next build the Mac will this be enough to mitigate potential security breach using the full time machine restore method?
5 I have many apps that I have not purchased through the app center and have not kept the keys and will be a headache to get all my details
6 what implications are there as far as the prior keychain access is consurned? How does that get restored?
What is the most effective and efficient method to restore from time machine given above scenario?
Thanking you in advance
Peter

Thank you for your advice
I tried consulting Telstra premium services and other third party security consultants. I explained my steps and procedures upon each fresh installation and the extent of the hacking and they refused to service me. Additionally Telstra security center replied on the issue of using a proxy server that they only support windows operating systems. Last night an apple consultant told me to obtain the proxy server address and he will guide me through to setting it up. I hope this will resolve the security issue. However I'm not entirely sure. My iPhone was also hacked and 8 GB of data used in 1 day untill I caught on. Freaked me out since I had disconnected from the wifi.
I'm currently installing from flash drive and transferring my information from time machine. I think it's a full restore.
I am investing in a website in a couple of weeks however I'm not currently hosting one on my laptop.
Cheers
Peter

ALL Photos missing after Time Machine restore (help)

So, I accidently formated the wrong drive while in Windows, (big oops) which gave me the opportunity to take Time Machine for a test drive.
I put the DVD in, and was able to restore from the TIme Machine drive. Very impressed! Everything came back just as I had left it except - whats this? The default Leopard wallpaper instead of a picture of my son? Huh strange, I thought. Until I noticed I had no photos in iPhoto.
There seems to be reminents of photos in the iphoto database - the size is 1.3gb instead of the 7gb it used to be. But 0 photos in iPhoto 08.
I went into iPhoto and choose File/Browse Backups. I selected Nov 8th, which was the last day of my backup and showed all 7000+ photos, and clicked "Restore All". This brought up something odd - a 2nd iPhoto icon in the dock, which showed a progress bar for the restore. Once the restore was completed, I still had a 2nd iPhoto icon the the bar, which was iPhoto running - but no photos in iphoto! I exited the 2nd iphoto, which disappeared, and launched my normal Iphoto icon. Still no photos! (That just seems odd that it would launch iPhoto with a 2nd icon)
So, I moved my iphoto database, and launch iPhoto in order to create a fresh database - thinking maybe that was the issue. I then did File/Restore again, and went through the whole processes again, including the odd 2nd icon. Still, no photos! And another 1.3gb iphoto database!
Is it normal for a Time Machine restore to not include your photos? Surely you are not supposed to restore them separately from within Iphoto?
What do I do now? At this point, everything went very well - except no photos! Which is awful and not at all expected! 7000+ family photos! At least, if I ask iPhoto/Time Machine to restore 'all photos' you would think it would restore 'all photos' - not show a progress bar, and then show me no photos!
p.s. I just tooked at the iPhoto Library. The 1.3gb is in /Data/ which contains folders 2000-2007, my Events, and thumbnails of all the photos - but no actual photos (the 'Originals' folder is missing).
I then went back in time, and found the 8gb iPhoto Library database. I supposed I could copy it over manually via Time Machine, and not iPhoto's Restore/TM - but - i'm so far off track of how this should have went I don't know what to think!
p.s.s. So I did just that - copied the 8gb iPhoto Library manually from TM, and pasted it in place. I help down option, and launch iPhoto, selecting the 8gb library - and BOOM... no photos!
Something is #$%# up here.
Message was edited by: metzen79

This is what it says in the help file:
Reverting to a previous Mac OS X version
If you’ve used Time Machine to back up your computer, you can easily revert to a previous version of Mac OS X if you’re experiencing trouble after installing an update.
IMPORTANT: Reverting to the previous version of Mac OS X will erase any additions or changes you’ve made to the files on your computer after installing the new version of Mac OS X. To save new or revised files, copy them onto a different disk or back them up using Time Machine before you follow these instructions. Use Time Machine only if you’re reverting to a previous version of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), since Time Machine is not available with Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier.
To revert to a previous version of Mac OS X:
Insert the disc you used to install the new version of Mac OS X, and double-click the Install Mac OS X icon.
In the Installer, choose Utilities > Restore System From Backup.
In the Restore Your System dialog, click Continue.
Select your Time Machine backup volume.
Select the Time Machine backup you want to restore. To restore your computer to the state it was in before you installed a new version of Mac OS X, choose the most recent backup.
Follow the onscreen instructions.
If you backed up any individual files as described under the Important message above, you can restore them now. If you backed them up using Time Machine, recover them using the Time Machine application. (You’ll find the Time Machine application in the Dock or in the Applications folder.)
Hope this helps
Denisimo

Time Machine restore of multiple accounts

Hi folks,
My mac mini hasn't been reformatted for a couple of years now and is starting to creak a bit. I'm going to do a clean install of Snow Leopard from my OS disks and then use time machine to restore iTunes, accounts, documents etc.
My questions/queries/worries (delete as appropriate) are..
1. Will the time machine restore and 'put back' all 4 accounts on the machine automatically or do i select them from a list?
2. Will I be given an option of which backup date/time to select from (i.e a backup done 20mins ago, one an hour ago, last week,last month) or will it just do the most recent backup?
Thanks in advance

iBook fan wrote:
Hi folks,
My mac mini hasn't been reformatted for a couple of years now and is starting to creak a bit. I'm going to do a clean install of Snow Leopard from my OS disks and then use time machine to restore iTunes, accounts, documents etc.
That's unlikely to help much, if at all. Your best bet is to find out why it's "creaking" and fix that.
My questions/queries/worries (delete as appropriate) are..
1. Will the time machine restore and 'put back' all 4 accounts on the machine automatically or do i select them from a list?
If all you want is to restore everything, don't bother with erasing your HD and installing OSX. Just do a full system restore, per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). The first thing it does is erase your internal HD. And it restores everything from the backup you select.
If you want a fresh version of OSX, then erase your HD and install OSX. When your Mac boots up, +Setup Assistant+ will ask if you want to transfer your data, from the last (successful) backup. If you accept the defaults, it will copy everything but OSX. Or, you can omit some things, like a particular user, if you want. See #19 in the FAQ.
When your Mac boots up again, download and install the 10.6.4 "combo" update. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048 Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards.
2. Will I be given an option of which backup date/time to select from (i.e a backup done 20mins ago, one an hour ago, last week,last month) or will it just do the most recent backup?
Depends on which procedure you use.

Time Machine restore leads to strange file permission issues

I've had three Mac laptops over the last 8 years. It all started with an iBook. When I bought my first MBP I used the "migration assistant" to move my files over. I started using Time Machine when it was released. I then upgraded the hard drive on the MBP and used Time Machine to restore the data. Later, I bought another MBP and used Time Machine to transition all of my files.
Each Time Machine restore was flawless.
The problem comes from my most recent hard drive upgrade (details are below). After upgrading the hard drive on the second MBP I did a Time Machine restore, which appeared to complete without incident. However a couple of problems, which are probably related, have cropped up.
After clicking on Firefox.app I get "Profile Missing Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."
The following message is printed to the console: [0x0-0x31031].org.mozilla.firefox[493]: Error: Access was denied while trying to open files in your profile directory. com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[275] ([0x0-0x31031].org.mozilla.firefox[493]): Exited with exit code: 1
I tried to delete my old profile from ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox and the problem persists. Running /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin -ProfileManager results in the same error.
The file permissions on the ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox directory are:
drwxrwxr-x 2 my_name staff 68B Feb 20 08:31 Firefox
I'm at a loss here because the permissions look correct. When I run the ProfileManager as "sudo" it starts correctly and let's me edit/create a profile for "root".
I've repaired permissions several times, and the disk utility (and Onyx) don't report any problems. A very similar problem occurs for MS Office problems. When I launch Excel (or any other office app) I get an error message saying that the MS Office Database can't be used. Also interesting is that it builds the font cache every time. If I'm not mistaken the font cache and Office database are also stored in profiles, but not under ~/Library
Short story long, after a Time Machine restore some apps can't seem to write profile information, but the file permissions look correct and Disk Utility can't find any problems with my new disk.
Any help or pointers would be great.
Here are the details on the new hard drive:
Capacity: 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 bytes)
Model: WDC WD10TPVT-00HT5T1
Revision: 01.01A01
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Rotational Rate: 5200
Medium Type: Rotational
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
Writable: Yes
BSD Name: disk0s1
Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 999.86 GB (999,860,912,128 bytes)
Available: 668.89 GB (668,892,172,288 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /

You might try the following to repair permissions in your Home folder. Disk Utility does not repair permissions in the Home folder.
To fix Home folder permissions
Open the Terminal application in the Utilities folder. At the command line prompt enter or paste the following command line:
sudo chown -R `id -un`:`id -gn` ~
Press RETURN. You will be prompted to enter your admin password which will not be echoed.

Will time machine restore an application?

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