Losing bookmarks

User Help for Mozilla Firefox
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AnotherGuest.
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Joined: December 22nd, 2004, 11:47 am

Post by AnotherGuest. »

max1million,
<b>With that procedure you are almost guaranteed not to find hidden files that are still on your computer,</b> at least with some versions of XP. I've tried it, and the Windows file search doesn't work like you think it does. I'm certain that a lot of people are losing their bookmarks simply because of a quirk in Windows. Here's how to find bookmark files even if they are hidden (and they probably <i>are</i> hidden).
PrincessMagick
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Post by PrincessMagick »

Hi! Sorry just a quick reply here, but i've gone through the tedious search for my missing bookmarks, and I just found them!

I'll c/p the info I used as if you're anything like me you'll hate having to follow the train of URLs to random gabble.

Move an existing profile or restore a backed up profile

It's possible to move the location of a profile folder. This could be useful if you have a backed up profile folder somewhere on your hard drive and want to tell Firefox to use that as your profile. This section explains how to do this.

1. Shut down Firefox completely (File > Exit).
2. Move the profile folder to the desired location. For example, on Windows, move the profile from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default to D:\Stuff\MyProfile. If you are reading these instructions because you want to restore a previously backed up profile, this step isn't necessary. Just note the current location of the profile you want to restore.
3. Open up profiles.ini in a text editor. The file is located in the application data folder for Firefox:
* On Windows XP/2000, the path is %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
* On Windows 95/98/Me, the path is usually C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\
* On Linux, the path is ~/.mozilla/firefox/
* On Mac OS X, the path is ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/
4. In profiles.ini, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location.
5. Change IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0.
6. Save profiles.ini and restart Firefox.


Like others have said, make sure you put all file properties on "view hidden folders/files" as the file I found my missing bookmarks in was very well hidden (thanks to my over security concious brother ¬.¬)

Also maybe try search for bookmarks-1.html as thats what my file was called ;)

Good luck to you all xx
AnotherGuest.
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Post by AnotherGuest. »

Is it just me, or do I get the impression that no one reads anything around here?
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hellene
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Post by hellene »

PrincessMagick wrote:
Also maybe try search for bookmarks-1.html as thats what my file was called ;)

The advice I always give is to search for bookmark*.* as you sometimes do find exactly that phenomenon.
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Bjorn Hughes
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Post by Bjorn Hughes »

AnotherGuest:

With 76985 topics and 325467 posts it might take me a while, and thats just in FF support. I did have a browse before i posted but couldn't see anything recent.
No i didn't read the FAQ. Yes I should've, but no i didn't. :oops:
Last edited by Bjorn Hughes on April 19th, 2005, 7:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
AnotherGuest.
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Post by AnotherGuest. »

Bjorn,
I know it can be daunting to look through the whole forum, but I was actually referring to this message. :) I just thought it was a little amusing.

If you are really trying hard to find bookmarks, you have to search in hidden folders, system folders and subdirectories. Setting those options on Windows Explorer isn't enough. You have to set them in the search box. And, as hellene just said, you have to search for all names that begin with 'bookmarks'.
Last edited by AnotherGuest. on April 19th, 2005, 7:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bjorn Hughes
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Post by Bjorn Hughes »

Sorry and thankyou, i'll start there.
the real guerra
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Post by the real guerra »

@ vector had the same problem with the lost bookmarks as well i was asked to make a new profile i did

i followed the steps you told before i was able to choose my good old default profile with all the bookmarks but i cant access the internet over that profile !!!

it is working smooth with my new one ....
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hellene
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Post by hellene »

the real guerra wrote:@ vector had the same problem with the lost bookmarks as well i was asked to make a new profile i did

i followed the steps you told before i was able to choose my good old default profile with all the bookmarks but i cant access the internet over that profile !!!

it is working smooth with my new one ....

Here's some advice on how to get your old stuff into a new profile. I'm posting a link because the Edmeister explains this stuff so much better than I do
http://the-edmeister.home.comcast.net/t ... _data.html
I don't know how to do any of this stuff, I just hire the guys that do
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Turbomax
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Post by Turbomax »

Many of the posts here on the support forum are completely redundant & at the same time unhelpful. I have lost my bookmarks 4 separate times AFTER following the directions here and not once have I seen any other profile other than Default after running firefox.exe -p, nor have any multiple occurances of firefox been running.

I scoured the web for hours on IE and found that another reason that this may be happening has to do with a recent Java update that has been crashing XP sites left & right. Have you downloaded a recent update for Java? If so, you might want to clean out your old versions & reinstall clean - it seems that Java Webstart has a difficult time dicerning which version to use (the new or the old) & often creates that dreaded blue screen.

I loved FF, though am getting tired of losing bookmarks. It's like buying one of those new fancy camera phones and not being able to make any phonecalls because the reception sucks. Yippee I have a phone that take pictures but I cannot make calls! F

Anyway, check your Java then download that backup manager (which I still cannot find on the Extensions Mirror site - can anyone provide a direct link to the download vs. a link to the obscur homepage?)

Then read up everything you can about backing up your profile so that next time you get a bluescreen you can get something back out of it.

As far as synchronizing bookmarks, that's another story - when I do this I only get 1/2 my bookmarks, and for some reason they are not the same ones as currently saved in my current IE browser. How is this possible? FF seems to be resurecting IE links from 2 years ago and completely bypassing my current favorites.

I lost all my work bookmarks in the last crash. Thus I'm seriously considering bagging FF altogether except to check to make sure my websites look ok in it.

Perhaps in Firefox 1.04 those folks at Mozilla can start from scratch and build a browser that not only looks good on the outside, but also has the guts to deliver consistent results. Isn't a browser's main function to allow us to view webpages & save our favorites so we can go back and look at them again?

Screw the rest, give me my bookmarks back.
Turbomax
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Post by Turbomax »

Think I figured out why FF was importing really old bookmarks - it seems I have a really old version of Netscape Navigator on my system. Obviously Netscape faves are in a file called bookmarks.html as well since FF is basically Netscape revisited. Could Netscape also be interferring with other functions of FF?
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hellene
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Post by hellene »

Turbomax wrote:Think I figured out why FF was importing really old bookmarks - it seems I have a really old version of Netscape Navigator on my system. Obviously Netscape faves are in a file called bookmarks.html as well since FF is basically Netscape revisited. Could Netscape also be interferring with other functions of FF?
Now that is an interesting thought, particularly as a number of Fox users were once users of netscape.

The link I have for bookmarks backup is http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=13
I hope it hasn't moved, the extensions mirror recently did a revamp.

As I recall, I actually got it from Pikey's site.
I don't know how to do any of this stuff, I just hire the guys that do
Have you considered reading the HELP folder. Right there on your menu bar.
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AnotherGuest.
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Post by AnotherGuest. »

<i><b>Many people still have their bookmarks but cannot find them.</b></i> Since they can't find them, they give them up for lost. In fact, <i>I just got done with someone who can see the bookmarks but swears that the file doesn't exist.</i> It's because he's looking in the wrong place, and there are a lot of places in a computer. That's why I prefer an automatic, complete search of all your hard drives, instead of poking around in a couple of profile directories. Here's more information:

How to find any bookmarks that might be anywhere on the computer, and how to recover them and make backups

The reason we are unhelpful is that in any particular we don't know how you are losing your bookmarks. So we can just tell you how to back them up and recover them. Most people never lose a bookmark, while a few lose them multiple times. All I can think is that it's something about the computer setup, but no one knows.

It is thought that some are misplaced when either the user or the system creates a new profile, and that's why you are often advised to check for profiles. It is all right to look in other profiles, but to be sure to find them, I prefer the more automatic and complete search that I have described.

No, Netscape is not interfering with Fx, unless you deliberately put them in the same directory. One other possibility is that you may have copied an old bookmarks file over a newer one. I strongly discourage copying one file over another one.

<b>NOTE ADDED LATER: Some third-party programs delete your bookmarks -- <i>maybe without your even knowing it</i>. See the link above for more details.</b>
Last edited by AnotherGuest. on April 29th, 2005, 7:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
Kiit
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Post by Kiit »

I have lost my bookmarks twice since 'upgrading' to 1.02. No additional profiles. Both times my winxp system hung after heavy firefox use and both times on reset all settings and bookmarks are wiped. It does still have my saved form information, history, etc. But all bookmarks and firefox settings are completely gone. Even a search of the data in all files on my drive for my bookmarks turns up nothing.

I understand something else might be going on to cause a crash, but why would firefox overwrite its settings and bookmarks?! Very annoying, I hate to do it, but firefox 1.02 is getting uninstalled and 1.01 is coming back.
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hellene
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Post by hellene »

Sigh. Why not just install bookmarks backup. Much easier than attempting a roll back that almost certainly won't fix the problem.
I don't know how to do any of this stuff, I just hire the guys that do
Have you considered reading the HELP folder. Right there on your menu bar.
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