Questions about Time Machine & reinstalling OS

[MacFerg]

After years of use my 2009 macbook is running slow and I want to erase the hard drive and re-install the OS to see if I can get it to work effectively again.

I have everything backed up on an external hard drive with Time Machine.

I have unfortunately lost my instal discs, but hopefully by following these instructions I will be successful:

https://www.apple.com/ca/osx/recovery/

My main concerns are:

1: Once I have reinstalled the fresh OS, can I pick and chose just what programs and file I want from the Time Machine back up? I don't want to re-load the hard drive with everything that was on it before and things remain just as slow. If yes, how?

2: Can I use time machine to re-install previously installed programs, such as Microsoft office? I don't think I have all my installation discs for them lying around either.

Any advice I can get to help make this process run smoothly would be appreciated.

Thanks

My Computer as is:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook6,1
System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB

 

[harryb2448]

Recovery works just great ~ BUT ~ only with OS X>7 and later, not Snow Leopard. Eiher dig outnthose discw or purchase a new DVD from Apple Online.

Your MacBook will handle 8GB of memory and the 2GB is miniscule so consider upgrading. OWC and Crucial recommended memory suppliers.

 

[ron4mac]

You can not simply install Microsoft Office from the backup.

 

[harryb2448]

As Ron advises, larger suites such as Office and Adobe do not migrate well and generally require re-activation at least, or sometimes removal and a clean install which with Office 2011 is the pits!

 

[chscag]

I can't speak for Adobe products since I don't own any, but when I migrated everything from my 2011 iMac to a new 2013 iMac, MS Office 2011 migrated without a hitch. I fully expected to have to reactivate it but it never asked and everything worked fine. So, I guess the answer with MS Office is: it depends....

 

[MacInWin]

Photoshop needs to be deactivated/reactivated, at least CS6 did.