Recover Files - Time Machine

So all over the internet there is information on how to backup and restore from time machine. But what if you did not like the way your computer was configured? Why in the heck would I want to re-install a faulty setup? I do not use time machine personally so forgive me if it is simple.

QUESTION: How easy is it to fresh install OS X and then use Time Machine solely for file recovery? Are there any tips you could provide?

Thanks!

Justin

That should be relatively easy to do. Two Ideas occur to me. The first option reduces the odds of a restoring from a faulty setup to almost nil.

When setting up Time Machine it is possible to exclude certain folders. Anything in those folders will not be backed up. I excluded all of the system files/folders because I usually keep a current clone around. Make sure you include your User (Home) directory if you store files there.

I tend to keep data files in a separate series of folders on my hard drive rather than in my User folder so I excluded everything that might contain system files including the user folder. The down die is that if someone uses my computer they could see my data because it is not protected inside the user folder. It also means that changes to my user Library do not get backed up until the next time I clone my drive.