[dnanian]

Hi, Syd.

You can make a backup of everything but OSX, but I strongly recommend against it. Why, you might ask? Because -- if you want to have your applications work -- it's not always easy to differentiate between OS files and Application files. It's much easier to restore from a full backup, especially one you can boot from, than it is from a partial backup.

Of course, you're in a difficult position now, because your drive is already damaged. We're not really designed to be used "reactively", backing up after a failure -- rather, we need to be used proactively, before a failure.

I don't know where your bad block is, but, here's what I'd do.

First, do a full "Backup - user files". That'll get your personal files off the drive.

Then, do an archive-and-install of your OS. That'll put a fresh, new copy of the OS down, while leaving your applications and data in place.

Once that's done, update to the most recent release with Software Update, and see if everything's working OK. If so, remove the "Previous Systems" folder at the top of the drive, empty your trash, and then do a "Backup - all files" with "Smart Update" selected as the during copy action (in Options).

That'll add the OS files to the backup, along with any changes you've made to your User Files.

That should work to get you going again. Let me know.