What to do with backup folders after replacing my hard drive?

[joyousnerd]

I have a 13" Macbook I purchased in October 2007, just before Leopard was released. I had been running 10.4 until recently when I had a need to upgrade my OS for some software. Last weekend I backed up everything I thought would be important to an external hard drive -- specifically, my documents, music, movies, pictures, and Library folder, in preparation to upgrade. On Wednesday my hard drive died. I replaced the hard drive and re-installed 10.4, then upgraded to 10.5.

My question is this -- what should I do with all of my backed-up folders to get my stuff on the new hard drive? Can I replace the empty ones on the new HD with the backups? I am specifically concerned about the library folder, I don't want to screw up anything.

 

[DarkestRitual]

You cannot replace the library folder or any system folders from your backup. Your backup is an older revision of the operating system.

My questions are a) why did you install Tiger first, what a waste of an hour (could have just done a fresh Leopard install) and b) why did you pay a higher premium for Leopard discs when you could have gotten Snow Leopard for either the same price, or 120 dollars less (though less legal).

Anyway, you can replace your photos, music, documents, sites, and all that jazz, but no system folders.

 

[joyousnerd]

Excellent questions. I didn't buy anything -- I had a Leopard upgrade DVD that I got back in 2007 through Apple's up-to-date program, since I bought my computer 2 weeks before Leopard was released. I had just never installed it. Since all I had was the upgrade DVD, I installed Tiger first.

Since I can't move my system folders, is there a way to move over my application data?

 

[chscag]

That would only cause problems. Best to reinstall all your applications. Data and documents can of course be carried over with no difficulty.

Regards.