Automated Safe Mode boot and backup routine

[jrlamar]

OK, here's the situation: I'd like to run SuperDuper! on an unattended, scheduled Smart Update copy in the middle of the night. And since I have a bunch of startup/login items -- Microsoft AU and Database Daemons, some Palm syncing utilities, etc. -- I know it would be best practice to boot in Safe Mode. But I can't be here to do a conventional safe boot (physically holding down the Shift key during startup).

So what would be the best (but not necessarily easiest) solution to deal with this from a command-line scripting standpoint? Execute a shell script before SD runs that tells each app to quit individually? Or script something out for the Mac OS that could automate a Safe Mode boot?

By the way, I would always go right to a system shutdown as soon as SD finished its job, so I assume I wouldn't need to run a shell script after the copying completes -- and that everything would just start back up as normal on the next boot.

Thanks!

Jason

[dnanian]

Actually, not necessary. You can just run a little AppleScript to quit the few apps you need to (mostly Entourage, if that's running). e.g.:

tell application "Microsoft Entourage" to quit