Need help retrieving bookmarks lost after windows revamp
I took my PC in for servicing and the repair guy wiped out all my bookmarks. He claimed that Firefox bookmarks are automatically depleted after revamp, unlike with IE.
I clicked Old Firefox Data on my desktop and was unable to restore bookmarks up to February 2013 'bookmarks-2013-02-22.json' The dates ranged from the 11th to the 22nd. I don't see anything beyond that date. The most important bookmarks I need are from the last 3 months. How do I get the bookmarks back?
Regarding places.sqlite, when I clicked on that, it says Windows cannot open the file. If I R click and choose Properties, I just see a window, and at the bottom it has Read only and Hidden files.
I have 3 places files: -places.sqlite 10240 kb -places.sqlite-shm 32 kb -places.sqlite-wal 385 kb
many thanks
Modified by Linnes
All Replies (18)
You can try to move the places.sqlite from the Old Profile folder to the new one.
For more info see the Recovering important data from an old profile article.
Has the Firefox profile folder been deleted?
Did you ever reset Firefox as that "Old Firefox Data" appears to be over a year old if you only have JSON backups from February 2013.
I'm not too skilled with tech stuff, but I don't think the profile folder has been deleted. As far as resetting FF, no I haven't done anything to it. The only person that has handled everything is the guy in the repair shop.
So if FF was reset, then am I out of luck as far as getting anything more recent than February 2013?
I read the instructions for Recovering important data from an old profile, but I dont have that kind of skill to to it. Is there anyone willing to do it for me?
hi Linnes to start, I would try this to check out if your firefox was reset (I guess you use Windows?):
- go to your profile folder -> go to C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
- Can you see only one folder? that is your default profile folder. Right click on it -> properties: see "Created" - when it has been created, should tell you if it's your old folder or, if it has been created recently (when the repair shop had your laptop), it probably means Firefox was reset by them, and that folder is new.
Unfortunately, I don't see anything with Roaming in the folder. The closest this is: C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.
Hi Linnes, the "Roaming" path is for Windows Vista and later. You have found the correct folder for Windows XP.
Hi Linnes, could you do a global search of your C: drive for *.json and see whether any other bookmark backups turn up?
You need to turn on viewing or searching of hidden files and folders if you haven't already. (It sounds as though you have.)
Thanks jscher2000, but no new bookmarks showed up except for the same 10 bookmarks in the Old Firefox Data. Does this mean I wouldn't find anything either in the places.sqlite folder-this isn't my area of expertise.
when you go to C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles and find your profile folder, which is the creation date?
I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be looking--but the only dates I see are the last 4 calendar dates since I've gotten my computer back. Are you talking about this: 86kl5gbf.default? Isn't this what you get when you create a new profile-how would this help? I'm really confused.
It is to understand if and when your Firefox has been reset. if your profile is old, in theory you should have old bookmarks' backups. If it's new, if your firefox has just been reset from the repair guy (without backing up the data and bookmarks), that could be the reason why you miss last 3 months bookmark. [it's the point made also by cor-el above in his first comment]-
How many places.sqlite database files did you find? (Ignore any temporary files with hyphens in their names.)
The one in your currently active profile folder only has what you see in Firefox. The one in your Old Firefox Data folder on your desktop probably was last updated at the time that folder was created. Were there any others?
jscher2000, I see just one--places.sqlite 10240 kb.
That's not very promising...
What did the repair shop do, exactly?
You might ask them whether there would be any point in running Recuva on the drive to try to salvage erased files. This needs to be done ASAP after erasure, or the recovery ends up with a lot of damaged files.
I have places.sqlite, places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal. What the shop did according to the invoice was put in a Harver cooling fan and cpu heatsink. They seemed to backup the bookmarks in Explorer (all 4 of them) but wasn't concerned about the bookmarks in Firefox which I told them that I use.
I wouldn't take it back that shop to do the Recuva. I could ask a neighbor to run it. Would we just look for something that says 'bookmarks'?
Modified by Linnes
It seems the hard drive should not have been disturbed by the repair. But what's done is done.
Yes, you're looking for files with names starting with bookmarks-2014 (the files from the missing bookmarkbackups folder).
jscher2000, we didn't find anything. I think my goose is cooked.