icloudmacossystem-prefs
When I open System Preferences, it opens straight to the iCloud pane, which loads a spinner, states that it is loading, and then runs until I give up. While the spinner is up, I can't quit the app or load the pane, nor can I access any other preferences.
I don't have an iCloud account, and I'd like to quit the pane to make changes to my system. Is there any way to disable the pane or this behaviour?
To answer the question in your update "Can Time Machine do selective restoring?", Migration Assistant (in /Applications/Utilities) can restore data from a Time Machine backup, with some control over what is restored. See Apple's HT4889 for some details.
You also asked: "If I restore my entire home folder, will I also be restoring the faulty settings related to the crashing apps?", sadly, yes this is a possibility.
"Can I recover selective apps from Time Machine?" I don't think so.
The settings stay unlocked, just do not click the "lock". This will keep the stuff unlocked until you want to lock it again.
Best Answer
Launch Activity Monitor (in /Applications/Utilities) and look for a process named "com.apple.preferences.icloud.remoteservice". Select it, click the little stop sign with the x inside it, and select "force Quit".