[Solved] Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

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Energise
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[Solved] Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

I've just re-installed Windows 10 on PC and have downloaded Firefox v57, having previously been running v56. I saved my Profile prior to re-installing Windows 10, on the understanding that I would be able to replace the new profile with my Profile from v56, which contains all my bookmarks, in particular.

Unfortunately, Firefox v57 just doesn't like my 'old' profile and so I have had to revert to the 'new' profile which has none of my saved bookmarks, logins etc. I'm not too concerned about the logins, although it would be great if they could transfer but it's my bookmarks which I would like to retrieve. Previously, I've always used MozBackUp but, having read how the program is no longer supported, I thought I'd try saving/moving the old profile.

Could someone help me either to get Firefox v57 to accept my 'old' profile and re-establish bookmarks and logins OR help me retrieve the bookmarks, if that's possible, please?

Many thanks. I'll appreciate all help and advice
Last edited by Energise on January 11th, 2018, 9:23 am, edited 3 times in total.
allande
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by allande »

What happens when you attempt to run Firefox 57 with your old profile? Do you get an error message?

Aside from that, you can try one of the following-
Make another, 2nd new profile and copy everything from your old profile folder to it, while Firefox is not running.
Or this mentions which files to copy and which not to for best results - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_ ... _-_Firefox
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

Thanks allande

The error message I get is "Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible" 'Title of Window - 'Profile Missing'; Yellow Exclamation mark on left, OK button below message; 'X' at top right hand corner to exit window.

I've tried both your suggestions. The first suggestion, re making new profile, I created new profile, opened it, deleted contents, copied all files from 'old' profile and launched Firefox. Unfortunately, FF opened as if for the first time using a new profile, ie everything as default.

I tried just swapping the contents of 'bookmarkbackups' folder into the new profile - no change in FF
I tried swapping the whole 'bookmarkbackups' folder - no change

I have to say I found the kb.mozillaline.org pages difficult to follow, particularly as they only refer to Windows 7 and below, not Windows 10; plus, clicking on links, then further links and further links, opening so many tabs, I just ended up feeling I'd lost the plot.

Clearly, this isn't going to be straight forward :( Thanks for trying, though. I do appreciate it :)

Perhaps there are alternative methods, less complicated???
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BuddhaNature
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by BuddhaNature »

If all you are really interested in is your bookmarks. Then try the following.

(1) Shutdown FF.
(2) From the profile that you originally saved off (from your v56 install) copy into the new profile folder (the profile folder that v57 created) the files places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite.
(3) Now launch FF again and see if that sorted the bookmarks problem.
OS: Windows 10 Pro. x64
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

Yay!!! Fantastic!!! BuddhaNature, that worked!!! :)

Obviously, I had to click on 'replace' files but the two I was putting in were much larger than the two they were replacing, so it seemed a positive thing to try.

Thank you so much, BuddhaNature

Now to get used to the new format of v57 generally. I've already got the tabs below the address bar and bookmarks, which was another requirement for me. I expect I'll be tweaking for a little while yet.

Now to get Thunderbird sorted as that won't take my 'old' profile either ... !!! ;)

Again, many many thanks for all these suggestions, allande and BuddhaNature :)
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BuddhaNature
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by BuddhaNature »

Glad it worked. It is what I did on my own system.

I should have added that when FF v57 was released the general advice on these forums was, as this was a major version change for FF, to just allow v57 to create a new profile and build up from there. This is what I did. The only thing I used out of my old profile were the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite.

In case you are not clear on what these files are for places.sqlite contains the bookmarks database, favicons.sqlite contains the icons associated to the bookmarks. If you only copied over the places.sqlite you would have had your old bookmarks, but not the icons associated with them. To get the icons back the hard way you would need to launch all the bookmarks at which point FF would download the icons again and store them in the new favicons.sqlite it had just created. The easy way is just to copy over the old favicons.sqlite - and voila! you have your bookmark icons back too.
Energise wrote:Obviously, I had to click on 'replace' files but the two I was putting in were much
larger than the two they were replacing, so it seemed a positive thing to try.
Ah, that is a weak point in my instructions. Would now amend to:

(1) Shutdown FF.
(2) In the new profile folder that FF v57 created rename the files places.sqlite to places.sqlite.new and favicons.sqlite to favicons.sqlite.new. (In this way you can roll back to these files easily if you want.)
(3) From the profile that you originally saved off (from your v56 install) copy into the new profile folder (the profile folder that v57 created) the files places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite.
(4) Now launch FF again and see if that sorted the bookmarks problem.

P.S. As you are re-building and tweaking - If you want your bookmarks to permanently display in "sort by name" order then you might find the advice in this thread useful: Sort Bookmarks by Name
OS: Windows 10 Pro. x64
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BuddhaNature
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by BuddhaNature »

Hi Energise,

I was just scratching around looking for a possible way to get your logins back from your old profile. Came across this which I thought you might want to try: Recovering important data from an old profile

I think it's maybe an old document and so might not be up-to-date but you might want to give the instructions a test and see how it goes for you. Shutdown FF and rename the appropriate files in the profile folder before copying in your old files so that you can get back to a clean-slate if your test fails.

If it works could you post the result up here? I'd be curious to know. I don't use FF to store logins (prefer KeePass to deal with that) so I can't do the test myself.
OS: Windows 10 Pro. x64
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

Hi BuddaNature

Thanks so much for taking the time to look around for this. I really appreciate it. Yes, if I could get the logins, it would save a lot of time having to log into all the sites etc. I, too, use KeePass. I have done for years and I think it's excellent. I particularly like the fact that it can be used without needing internet, ie rather than LastPass for example. However, I only 'store' passwords, plus quite a lot of other data, and have never spent the time to work out how to have it automatically do it or am I under some misapprehension here??? ;) I just copy/paste. It's a great way to keep all that stuff and easy to put on Flash drive if going away, ie when I've gone to stay with Italian friends, knowing I'll have use of PC and/or Laptop ;)

Anyway, I digress. I'll hopefully be able to give this a go tomorrow. It's getting a bit too late to start that now.

Yes, of course, I'll post back with the outcome. I'll be glad to do that. Don't worry if I take a day or two to sort it, though. I will be back .... ;)

Again, many many thanks for all this help
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LIMPET235
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by LIMPET235 »

Hi Energise,
Just to add to what "BuddhaNature" mentioned here...
Shutdown FF and rename the appropriate files in the profile folder before copying in your old files so that you can get back to a clean-slate if your test fails.
As he said, it's always best to re-name any files & not delete them.
That way, you always have them "saved."
[Ancient Amateur Astronomer.]
Win-10-H/64 bit/500G SSD/16 Gig Ram/450Watt PSU/350WattUPS/Firefox-115.0.2/T-bird-115.3.2./SnagIt-v10.0.1/MWP-7.12.125.

(Always choose the "Custom" Install.)
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

Thanks for reinforcing that very sensible principle, Limpet

It's always worth remembering that. I remember seeing that advice a long time ago but it's always worth a reminder. Nothing to lose but an awful lot to (potentially) lose, if you don't! ;)
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

Hi BuddaNature

Yes, it worked :)

The article was easy to read and follow, I have to say. I prefer the Mozzila Support pages over the kb pages but they all contain very valuable information. Largely down to personal preference, really.

Learning all the time ...

Many thanks. I will now use all this new-found knowledge to get Firefox 57 on my laptop and tablet/keyboard (both Win 10) up to date :) This thread has been invaluable - I hope others can also benefit now :)

Please could someone enlighten me as to how to mark this thread SOLVED please? Thanks
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LIMPET235
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by LIMPET235 »

Yes.
Easy as...
Go to your 1st post & hit the EDIT button.
Add [Solved] or whatever term you want.

I did it for you.
O.K.
[Ancient Amateur Astronomer.]
Win-10-H/64 bit/500G SSD/16 Gig Ram/450Watt PSU/350WattUPS/Firefox-115.0.2/T-bird-115.3.2./SnagIt-v10.0.1/MWP-7.12.125.

(Always choose the "Custom" Install.)
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BuddhaNature
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by BuddhaNature »

Hi Energise,

Glad it worked. You might want to view this thread, which I discovered today, as it has information on what will be happening to the key3.db and logins.json files as from FF v58 (and onwards). Looks like things going to change a little bit, so it might be information to put under your hat for the future: Back up saved logins on quantum?
OS: Windows 10 Pro. x64
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

LIMPET235 wrote:Yes.
Easy as...
Go to your 1st post & hit the EDIT button.
Add [Solved] or whatever term you want.

I did it for you.
O.K.
Ha Ha I didn't see your last bit before I went to the first post and clicked 'Edit'. I could see 'Solved' there at the end of the title but wasn't sure if you'd already done it or if, by some clever programmer, 'solved' came up when 'edit' clicked!!! ;) Anyway, deleted the 'solved' already there and typed it in at the beginning of the Title ;) Thank you for doing this for me, in spite of me changing it. I'm very grateful to you :) Just hope I can remember for the next time ;)
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Energise
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Re: Problem Moving Profile from v56 to v57

Post by Energise »

BuddhaNature wrote:Hi Energise,

Glad it worked. You might want to view this thread, which I discovered today, as it has information on what will be happening to the key3.db and logins.json files as from FF v58 (and onwards). Looks like things going to change a little bit, so it might be information to put under your hat for the future: Back up saved logins on quantum?
Great! I'll have a look at your link shortly. Why do 'they' have to keep changing things, though? I can appreciate there is such a thing as 'progress' and 'improved' security etc but it really does seem that a lot of these changes are just because a programmer had an 'idea' ...

Thanks again
Very impressed with the very quick replies. Do you guys have nothing to do...??? ; :roll: Only joking!!! :-"
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