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Cannot restore bookmarks from either JSON or HTML files on external drive in Windows 8

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by FireFoxedU

FireFoxedU
FireFoxedU
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I recently decided to roll back Windows 8.1 which wasn't working for my computer and reinstall Windows 8. I backed up my Firefox bookmarks to an external hard drive as both JSON and HTML files before doing so. I have previously successfully restored bookmarks this way before when I had Windows 7.

After successfully reinstalling Windows 8, I have begun reinstalling apps, including Firefox. However, when I try to restore my bookmarks from either the HTML or the JSON backup, Firefox hangs and fails to reinstall. These are large files, so I gave Firefox plenty of time to do its thing (over 15 minutes) before giving up.

I decided to see if the problem was with the way either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 preserved and restored my app data when I upgraded to those, so I went to an older HTML file that I'd saved when I had Windows 7 (which is also a large file that includes IE and Chrome imported bookmarks). Success was instantaneous: my bookmarks toolbar was immediately re-populated and all bookmarks restored with in a matter of a few minutes at most.

However, I have done a lot of surfing and research in the last 2 years, and would prefer not to lose two years of work. What can I do to restore the most recent backup that I created in Windows 8.1?

I recently decided to roll back Windows 8.1 which wasn't working for my computer and reinstall Windows 8. I backed up my Firefox bookmarks to an external hard drive as both JSON and HTML files before doing so. I have previously successfully restored bookmarks this way before when I had Windows 7. After successfully reinstalling Windows 8, I have begun reinstalling apps, including Firefox. However, when I try to restore my bookmarks from either the HTML or the JSON backup, Firefox hangs and fails to reinstall. These are large files, so I gave Firefox plenty of time to do its thing (over 15 minutes) before giving up. I decided to see if the problem was with the way either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 preserved and restored my app data when I upgraded to those, so I went to an older HTML file that I'd saved when I had Windows 7 (which is also a large file that includes IE and Chrome imported bookmarks). Success was instantaneous: my bookmarks toolbar was immediately re-populated and all bookmarks restored with in a matter of a few minutes at most. However, I have done a lot of surfing and research in the last 2 years, and would prefer not to lose two years of work. What can I do to restore the most recent backup that I created in Windows 8.1?

Modified by FireFoxedU

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
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You would have to check the file if there are problems with importing the bookmarks. Easiest is to do that with the HTML file because such a file can be opened in a Firefox tab via "File > Open File".

FireFoxedU
FireFoxedU Question owner
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Thanks for your help.

I opened the html but its contents are only available as a web page, so at least they're not lost (thank you!) and I can theoretically access the bookmarks.

However, accessing bookmarks this way is really impractical since I won't know if the bookmarks toolbar has the info I seek or not. This means opting to use the webpage excusively as the more complete of the two, meaning loss of the bookmarks toolbar functionality .

I want to be able to use the toolbar exclusively, which means finding a way to restore the 2yrs worth of bookmarks now missing from it due to corruption of the most recent backup json file.

Is there a way to display the html bookmarks backup as toolbar objects?

Modified by FireFoxedU