How to Mirror your SeaMonkey Profile (almost Sync)

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Crogon
Posts: 31
Joined: December 12th, 2005, 4:53 pm

How to Mirror your SeaMonkey Profile (almost Sync)

Post by Crogon »

Seeking a method to Sync my user profile between machines, I managed to find a way to successfully mirror profiles. Now, I'm a stickler for details, so all of these steps may not be necessary. On the other hand, they should be thorough enough that you can do it the first time. Seriously advanced users can PROBABLY just download MozBackup and figure out the rest themselves. :)

My master machine was Win7 64 bit, slave machine was WinXP 32bit (specifically WinXP Mode 32 bit virtual machine, fully updated with a hole punched in the Win7 Firewall to allow full internet access to the virtual machine). Both machines were using SeaMonkey 2.49.3

Steps to use MozBackup to mirror your old profile (that worked for me, YMMV):
  • 1) If you have a Master Password set up in SeaMonkey, temporarily remove it:
    • a) Open SeaMonkey
      b) Click on the 'Edit' menu, then 'Preferences'
      c) In the 'Preferences' window, expand the 'Privacy & Security' category, then click on 'Master Passwords'
      d) On the 'Change Master Password' pop-up, click the 'Change Password' button
      e) Type your old password in to the 'Current Password' form field. Leave the other two blank.
      f) Click the 'Ok' button. You will get a warning pop-up, tell it that it's ok.
      g) Click 'Ok' on the 'Preferences' window, then close SeaMonkey
      h) Open SeaMonkey and check to ensure that the Master Password was indeed deleted
      i) Close SeaMonkey one final time
    2) Download MozBackup 1.5.2 Beta 1 from http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

    3) Extract the zip file, then right click on the MozBackup application and select 'Run as Administrator'. Note: Not sure if this step was necessary, but I did it just to be safe)

    4) Click 'Yes' (or enter an Administrator password) on the pop-up asking if you're sure

    5) In the MozBackup window, read the short blurb about what it does and click 'Next'

    6) Ensure that 'Backup a Profile' and SeaMonkey is selected, then click 'Next'

    7) Ensure that the profile that you want to backup is selected

    8) Click 'Browse' and make sure that it is going to save the profile somewhere that you can find it. When in doubt, save it to your desktop. Even non-technical users can usually find their desktop. ;)

    9) Once you're in the folder where you want to save the backup, click the 'Save' button, then click next

    10) A pop-up asks if you want to password protect your backup file. I intend to save my passwords in the backup file, so I answer 'Yes'
    • a) In the 'Set password' pop-up, enter your password in to both form fields, then click 'Ok'
    11) I have my Gmail account and address books set up for IMAP in SeaMonkey Email. It would be redundant and create a HUGE backup if I tried to save them in my backup, so I don't.
    • a) Uncheck 'Email' and 'Address Book' IF you don't want to back them up. (It will still copy your email account info and etc.)

    12) Click 'Next, then sit back and wait for the program to process everything..

    13) When it's done click the 'Finish' button

    14) Copy your backup file to the slave machine, and put it in a location where you can easily find it later

    15) On your slave machine, navigate to https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/2.49.3 then scroll down (read the blurbs if you wish) and download the English (US) for Windows version

    16) This step may be redundant, but make sure you are in a full screen virtual machine before you do an install. I noticed that Microsoft virtual compatibility extensions restart once you enter full screen mode, so If SeaMonkey is installing correctly, it might not detect the Microsoft extensions (if necessary), and just might try to install in a 640x480 only mode. I don't know, because I avoided the issue entirely by making sure that my virtual machine was in full screen mode.

    17) Run the SeaMonkey installer using whatever Save / Run method you prefer. Personally I save a copy of all executables.

    18) Click 'Finish' and Launch SeaMonkey.

    19) Navigate to http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/ and download then save MozBackup 1.5.2 Beta 1 on the slave machine (unless you already have access to the other downloaded copy).

    20) Open up a window for Windows Explorer, we're going to install all of your extensions. MozBackup will backup and restore the SETTINGS for your extensions, but not the extensions themselves. Personally, I keep a copy of all of my installed extensions, so I have a handy place to copy them from. If you don't, go to the SeaMonkey extensions website and browse to find any extensions you use. On each extension page, scroll to the bottom of the actual page (not the Dark Blue menu) and click the link that says 'See all versions'. Next find the version that you want to save a copy of, right click it and click 'Save as'. Repeat this for all of your extensions, saving them all in the same folder. One exception is to save any xSidebar extensions in to a sub-folder. You shouldn't install those extensions until the xSidebar actually exists. ;)
    • a) Drag all of your base extensions (ie: NOT extensions for the xSidebar extension) and drag and drop them on to a SeaMonkey web page. SeaMonkey will automatically digest all of the .xpi files, and post a bunch of pop-up windows, one for each extension.
      b) Take your time, and click 'Install Now' on each pop-up. IDK if it's necessary, but give SeaMonkey a few seconds between each pop-up to digest each extension and start installing it.
      c) You will see a bunch of tabs and pop-ups asking if you want to restart SeaMonkey. Ignore them. Once you are confident that all of your extensions installed, click the 'Close' button [X] in the upper right hand corner. Now, right click on the Windows Taskbar and click on 'Task Manager'
      d) The Windows Task Manager will pop open. Browse down the list and find SeaMonkey. Click on it one time, then sit back and wait for SeaMonkey to get done setting up all of those extensions, and ACTUALLY close. It WILL take a few minutes. You can tell at a glance when it's done, because the blue line where we clicked on SeaMonkey will disappear.
    21) Close or minimize the Task Manager (your choice). Open up SeaMonkey again, and repeat step 19 to add the extensions for xSidebar in to SeaMonkey.

    22) Don't continue until you check the Task Manager to make sure that SeaMonkey is completely closed down again.

    23) Extract the zip file for MozBackup, then right click on the MozBack application, and click 'Run As'.

    24) Assuming that your default WinXP user is an administrator (smooth move Microsoft) simply un-check the option that says 'Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity'.. or select an Administrator profile, and enter the password for that user. Again, I'm not sure if this step is necessary, however, our backup program is SPECIFICALLY going to inject information in to the files and folders owned by SeaMonkey, and I have absolutely zero confidence in trusting Microsoft to detect it correctly. Click the 'Ok' button'

    25) Click 'Next'

    26) Select 'Restore a profile' and make sure that 'SeaMonkey' is selected, then click 'Next'

    27) The default profile should be selected, so click the 'Browse' button and navigate to the copy of your SeaMonkey profile backup. Select the file then click 'Open'.

    28) If you saved the profile with a password, a pop-up will ask you to enter it now. Type your password in to the form field, then click 'Ok', then click 'Next'

    29) MozBackup should auto-magically select all of the items you backed up, so just click 'Next'

    30) A pop-up warns you that Restoration can overwrite existing files. That's precisely what we're using it for. Click 'Yes'

    31) Sit back and relax while it performs it's voodoo magic... then click 'Finish' when it's done.

    32) Open up SeaMonkey
TA-DA!! :D
A faithful mirror image of your old profile. ..at least until you click on any links or change anything whatsoever. :/
  • 33) Navigate back to the 'Master Passwords' Preference page, as mentioned above in step 1, and manually restore your Master Password on BOTH the master machine AND the slave machine
Note that any actual POP3 email and or native address books will NOT be restored using my method. If you are using POP3 email or local address books that you want to backup and restore, leave them checked in step 11. I use the Gmail IMAP email account, Address Book, Calendar and Tasks, so for me, all of that stuff is in the cloud anyway. SeaMonkey will start re-downloading my emails and junk as soon as I start clicking on folders and events and stuff. :)

One last tip, I generally keep most of my extensions disabled, unless I need to use them. FireFTP, ChatZilla and ScrapBook are prime examples of very important utilities, which I don't use everyday. :)

I am trying to get in touch with MR Tech about getting his extension Toolkit up and running. We could use this to backup all of the extensions in a profile, and avoid all of the downloading and saving in step 20. If anyone else has any suggestions to back up and restore the actual extensions, I'm listening. :)

OBVIOUSLY, any working solution to Sync all or part of the user profile, would also be VERY much appreciated. :)
Crogon
Posts: 31
Joined: December 12th, 2005, 4:53 pm

Re: How to Mirror your SeaMonkey Profile (almost Sync)

Post by Crogon »

Reserved (just in case)
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Ztruker
Posts: 1309
Joined: February 27th, 2005, 1:08 pm
Location: Melbourne, Fl

Re: How to Mirror your SeaMonkey Profile (almost Sync)

Post by Ztruker »

Or install a program called Mirror Folder ($39) and let it do the mirroring for you :D I've been using this program for many years for both backup and mirroring.
Rich
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
Rob_S
Posts: 809
Joined: December 13th, 2007, 8:54 am
Location: Vancouver Island BC
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Re: How to Mirror your SeaMonkey Profile (almost Sync)

Post by Rob_S »

Umm, I think I have an easier way. Path locations are given for windows. Make sure you are running same version of Seamonkey on both machines. Shut down seamonkey on the destination machine before proceeding.

1) copy your entire profile folder "C:\Users\your name\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\Profiles\********.default" to a usb drive or a portable hard drive.

2) copy the CONTENTS of the above folder into the profile folder on the destination machine - overwrite any existing.

DONE. This should give you an exact clone on the destination machine.

Given that my profile is several gigabytes of emails from years back plus extensive bookmarks and passwords, I do this frequently for backup, and it has never failed. If you have Lightning, that data copies as well.

To speed it up, I use the "Sync" functions of total commander to copy only updated files for future backups/syncs.

If your two computers can see each other on a network, you could probably copy contents of profile directly over the network.
User avatar
Ztruker
Posts: 1309
Joined: February 27th, 2005, 1:08 pm
Location: Melbourne, Fl

Re: How to Mirror your SeaMonkey Profile (almost Sync)

Post by Ztruker »

Or include the Seamonkey profile folders in a regular image backup (I do mine every Friday evening).
Rich
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
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