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Can't copy old details into new Firefox

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  • Freagra is déanaí ó FredMcD

Garbothing
Garbothing
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Long story short, I didn't know about Firefox Sync, and my old Windows installation is corrupt due to a corrupt HD, and I've reinstalled Windows on a new PC.

I have Firefox installed on the new PC, and in the past I would just copy files like places.sqlite over to the new profile and the bookmarks would be restored, but that hasn't worked. In fact, I replaced every single item (just straight up copy and paste to override the new files) from the old profile into the new one, but when I reopen firefox, it's still a fresh installation; no saved passwords, cookies, history, nothing.

Any ideas?

Long story short, I didn't know about Firefox Sync, and my old Windows installation is corrupt due to a corrupt HD, and I've reinstalled Windows on a new PC. I have Firefox installed on the new PC, and in the past I would just copy files like places.sqlite over to the new profile and the bookmarks would be restored, but that hasn't worked. In fact, I replaced every single item (just straight up copy and paste to override the new files) from the old profile into the new one, but when I reopen firefox, it's still a fresh installation; no saved passwords, cookies, history, nothing. Any ideas?

Réiteach roghnaithe

Did you try to use the Profile Manager?

  • To start it, press Windows key + R
  • Type firefox.exe -ProfileManager and click on OK
  • Create a new profile and choose the folder with your saved files
  • Close the Profile Manager and start Firefox
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All Replies (9)

Banban
Banban
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Réiteach Roghnaithe

Did you try to use the Profile Manager?

  • To start it, press Windows key + R
  • Type firefox.exe -ProfileManager and click on OK
  • Create a new profile and choose the folder with your saved files
  • Close the Profile Manager and start Firefox
FredMcD
FredMcD
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It may be better to copy the total old profile to the new computer to work on it. But make sure of what profile(s) you are working on.

Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.

Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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What is the full folder path to the folder that you are pasting into? I trust that you are aware that there are 2 "Profile" folders. One in /App Data/Roaming/ (where the real Profile data files are located) and another in /App Data/Local/ for the somewhat transitory files such as the cache are located.

Garbothing
Garbothing Úinéir na ceiste
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Banban said

Did you try to use the Profile Manager?
  • To start it, press Windows key + R
  • Type firefox.exe -ProfileManager and click on OK
  • Create a new profile and choose the folder with your saved files
  • Close the Profile Manager and start Firefox

I tried that, it didn't work.

Garbothing
Garbothing Úinéir na ceiste
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FredMcD said

It may be better to copy the total old profile to the new computer to work on it. But make sure of what profile(s) you are working on. Type about:support in the address bar and press enter. Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

I used this method to identify the correct folder. What next?

Garbothing
Garbothing Úinéir na ceiste
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the-edmeister said

What is the full folder path to the folder that you are pasting into? I trust that you are aware that there are 2 "Profile" folders. One in /App Data/Roaming/ (where the real Profile data files are located) and another in /App Data/Local/ for the somewhat transitory files such as the cache are located.

It's the one in Roaming. I used the about:support page to identify the directory where the current data is stored (Roaming folder) in C;Drive, and my previous HDD was located in F Drive; I copied the files from the F-Drive default profile into the C-drive one with firefox closed, and when I reopened firefox it remained the same.

Garbothing
Garbothing Úinéir na ceiste
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Banban said

Did you try to use the Profile Manager?
  • To start it, press Windows key + R
  • Type firefox.exe -ProfileManager and click on OK
  • Create a new profile and choose the folder with your saved files
  • Close the Profile Manager and start Firefox

Actually never mind. In my haste when trying repeatedly, I may have accidentally copied the new blank profile into the old drive. I had a backup in a separate profile (not sure how or why it exists, but it's there), and I Selected that folder in Profile Manager and it worked.

Thanks for your help boys and girls! Now I can finally format the old drive and get it replaced :)

Banban
Banban
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If it works, great! Thanks for your feedback!

FredMcD
FredMcD
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Garbothing said

FredMcD said
It may be better to copy the total old profile to the new computer to work on it. But make sure of what profile(s) you are working on.

I used this method to identify the correct folder. What next?

If the problem is fix, Great! !

Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.


https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles