How to backup Firefox profile correctly?

[noober]

Hi all,

I've just tried restoring a saved profile and faced some problems, so I'm here )

According to this: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/ba ... x-profiles, you just go to about:support, look for “Profile Folder”, click “Open Folder”, open C:\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\8wc1udae.default-release (the name depends on your system) and copy its content somewhere. Then, when and if your system drive fails, you install a fresh installation of Firefox, copy the content back and that's it.

What is really happens: after replacing profile folder content with your copy, you have history, bookmarks and passwords restored, yes. But all your extensions, themes and dictionaries are gone. They are presented, but not working. You have to remove them, one by one, and re-install from scratch. Since I have a lot of extensions and a lot of settings (styles for Stylus etc.), it seems too annoying.

If Mozilla creates a really portable version (like TOR Browser), that would be the best solution, but since it's just a dream, how could I make a real backup without the extension problems?

Thanks in advance.

[LIMPET235]

Hi,
Well, I've never had a problem with either the recommended way or just using a Manual back up.

See if this KB article varies from the "official" one.

> http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup

Are you closing Firefox before performing the back up?

[goman1000]

Use Hekasoft Backup and Restore. It works very well and also has some good options.

[dickvl]

It might be better to restore the profile folder to its original name as there might be files that have an absolute path in them and also the startup cache in the secondary profile location won't match the copied profile.
You would have to edit profiles.ini to reflect the changed profile path.

You may have to use "Clear the startup cache..." via the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page and possibly delete compatibility.ini to reinitialize the profile.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/us ... ix-firefox

[noober]

Thank you all for your responses!

Are you closing Firefox before performing the back up?

Yes, I closed FF. In my backup script there is a line for this:

Code: Select all

taskkill /F /IM firefox.exe /T

Use Hekasoft Backup and Restore. It works very well and also has some good options.

I'd prefer to do the task with standard tools such as files.

It might be better to restore the profile folder to its original name as there might be files that have an absolute path in them and also the startup cache in the secondary profile location won't match the copied profile.
You would have to edit profiles.ini to reflect the changed profile path.

I guess, I'd better back up profiles.ini as well, not just the profile folder.