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I would really appreciate any assitance on this,I am unable to backup my bookmarks due to a system crash. I can access the data on trhe crashed disk. Do my bookmarks reside in a file that I can copy and then replace in a new installation, if so, where is

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Windows has crashed and I have to reinstall Vista. I cannot therefore make a backup of my bookmarks but I assume there is a file somewhere on my crashed disk that carries that detail. If so, can I copy that file and replace it in my new installation of firefox. If this file exists I would appreciate knowing the name of the file that I should copy, and the directory that I might find it in.

Windows has crashed and I have to reinstall Vista. I cannot therefore make a backup of my bookmarks but I assume there is a file somewhere on my crashed disk that carries that detail. If so, can I copy that file and replace it in my new installation of firefox. If this file exists I would appreciate knowing the name of the file that I should copy, and the directory that I might find it in.

Chosen solution

The path that Anonymous gives is for Vista not XP.

The file "places.sqlite" is the file that contains your Bookmarks and History. It is located in your profile folder.

See: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles#How_to_find_your_profile Show hidden files and folders

In XP the path is generally: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default ("xxxxxxxx" being a unique alpha-numeric identifier)

When copying data from your OLD profile to your NEW profile, copy individual FILES (some require more than 1 FILE). DO NOT copy the entire OLD PROFILE folder; it will not work.

See: Recover important data from an old profile


Other Issues: ~~red:You have installed plug-ins with known security issues. You should update them immediately.~~

Update Java: your ver. 1.4.2 (~~red:very old~~); current ver. 1.6.0.20 (important security update 04-15-2010) (Firefox 3.6 and above requires Java 1.6.0.10 and above; see: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Java-related+issues#Java_does_not_work_in_Firefox_3_6 ) (Windows users: Do the manual update; very easy.) Check your version here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/ See: Updating Java Do the update with Firefox closed.

Install/Update Adobe Flash Player for Firefox: your ver. 10.0 r45; current ver. 10.1 r53 (important security update 2010-06-10) Check your version here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/ See: Updating Flash -use Firefox to download and SAVE to your hard drive (save to Desktop for easy access) -exit Firefox (File > Exit) -check to see that Firefox is completely closed (Ctrl+Alt+Del, choose Task Manager, click Processes tab, if "firefox.exe" is on the list, right-click "firefox.exe" and choose End process, close the Task Manager window) -double-click on the Adobe Flash installer you just downloaded to install/update Adobe Flash -when the Flash installation is complete, start Firefox, and test the Flash installation here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_15507&sliceId=1

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appdata>roaming>mozilla>firefox>profiles>click the next folder with random letters and numbers.default>bookmark backups and backup the .json files...

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Chosen Solution

The path that Anonymous gives is for Vista not XP.

The file "places.sqlite" is the file that contains your Bookmarks and History. It is located in your profile folder.

See: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles#How_to_find_your_profile Show hidden files and folders

In XP the path is generally: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default ("xxxxxxxx" being a unique alpha-numeric identifier)

When copying data from your OLD profile to your NEW profile, copy individual FILES (some require more than 1 FILE). DO NOT copy the entire OLD PROFILE folder; it will not work.

See: Recover important data from an old profile


Other Issues: ~~red:You have installed plug-ins with known security issues. You should update them immediately.~~

Update Java: your ver. 1.4.2 (~~red:very old~~); current ver. 1.6.0.20 (important security update 04-15-2010) (Firefox 3.6 and above requires Java 1.6.0.10 and above; see: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Java-related+issues#Java_does_not_work_in_Firefox_3_6 ) (Windows users: Do the manual update; very easy.) Check your version here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/ See: Updating Java Do the update with Firefox closed.

Install/Update Adobe Flash Player for Firefox: your ver. 10.0 r45; current ver. 10.1 r53 (important security update 2010-06-10) Check your version here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/ See: Updating Flash -use Firefox to download and SAVE to your hard drive (save to Desktop for easy access) -exit Firefox (File > Exit) -check to see that Firefox is completely closed (Ctrl+Alt+Del, choose Task Manager, click Processes tab, if "firefox.exe" is on the list, right-click "firefox.exe" and choose End process, close the Task Manager window) -double-click on the Adobe Flash installer you just downloaded to install/update Adobe Flash -when the Flash installation is complete, start Firefox, and test the Flash installation here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_15507&sliceId=1

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I too have this problem with finding old lost bookmarks, only I have windows XP and not Vista, is there still a way to retrieve them? Many thanks - Wendy

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Do you want to retrieve bookmarks from a crashed disk that is mounted as a second (slave) drive?

See:

Profiles - How to find your profile
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

"Application Data" in XP/Win2K and "AppData" in Vista/Windows 7 are hidden folders
See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders

Go to: Control Panel > Folder Options > "View" tab > under "Hidden files and folders", select "Show hidden files and folders"
You may want to un-check the box "Hide extensions for known file types" temporarily to see the file extensions of all files.

XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>
Vista/Windows 7: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>